Rice price rises!

COST TO SOAR AS HARVEST SLASHED

BAGS of rice are set to be hammered by hefty price hikes, consumers were warned last night.

Ingredients experts Eurostar Commodities said that a drought in southern Spain and Portugal is having a drastic effect on the cost of long-grain rice, and forecast tighter supplies and a price increase of almost one-third.

Bosses say that the volume of the next Spanish long-grain rice crop will drop by 70% as a consequence of the severe drought. In Portugal, its production is expected to be 10-20% down.

In some areas there was insufficient rain to grow rice at all. Prices in the Far East continue to rise with the growing demand for large quantities of long-grain rice from Europe. An overall price rise of almost 30% is forecast.

Jason Bull, a director of Eurostar Commodities, said: “Food price inflation is increasing due to drought and raw material availability.”