Rice prices started climbing in late 2019 due to a severe drought in Thailand and strong demand from Asian and African importers, which was way before the March spike; Thailand is the world’s second-largest exporter of rice after India.
Despite expectations of huge production this crop year and carry-over stocks of rice and wheat being at all-time highs, the rice price is the highest now, Samarendu Mohanty, Asia regional director at the Peru-based International Potato Centre said.