Unfriendly weather patterns in major rice-producing countries have created what a new report Thursday is calling the worst global rice shortage in 20 years.
Market analysis firm Fitch Solutions told CNBC that there’s a deficit of 8.7 million metric tons of rice produced in the 2022-23 growing season. The shortfall is causing rice prices to rise to an abnormally high average of $17.30 per cwt through the rest of the year. Cwt is a unit of measurement for commodities such as rice.
“At the global level, the most evident impact of the global rice deficit has been, and still is, decade-high rice prices,” Fitch Solutions’ commodities analyst Charles Hart told the network.
The last time rice experienced such a shortfall was in 2003-04, when there was a deficit of 18.6 million metric tons of the staple produced that year.
Poor weather in rice-producing nations such as China and Pakistan is seen as the primary driver of the deficit.
A wet second half of the year in China combined with heavy floods in Pakistan cut into production for two nations that together contribute about 12% of the world’s rice supply, according to World’s Top Exports. China was also hit by extreme droughts for a portion of last year.
Major consumers of rice, particularly countries in Asia and Africa, will be the most affected by the shortage. However, analysts expect the supply strains to moderate by 2024 and for production to move into a surplus again by 2025.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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