More evidence that there is little appetite for a free market in rice in South East Asia came in today as news spread that Thailand may be planning an OPEC-style international rice cartel—an Organization of Rice Exporting Countries. Cambodia almost immediately chimed in with its support, while the positions of Laos, Vietnam and Burma are still unclear but are expected to be favorable.
The plan isn’t going over well with Asia’s rice importing states. In the Philippines, which just suffered its second failed rice tender after Vietnam was the only country offering to sell, the proposal has been strongly denounced. Filipino politicians and editorials are describing the cartel as a "Mekong mafia."
Because many nations—including China, Vietnam and India—have imposed curbs on rice exports to secure supply for their domestic market, Thailand already exercises outsized influence on the international rice market. The OREC cartel, some fear, would institutionalize Thailand’s grip on the market. Others are skeptical, however, that rice really can be cartelized in the way oil has because rice production is vastly more decentralized than oil drilling.
Meanwhile, China has promised to develop mutant super-rice that it says will solve the problems of growing demand. Burma responded with a cyclone killing hundreds and wiping out rice crops.
Cartel plan fuels rice fear [The Australian]
Philippines Cancels Rice Tender; Futures Rebound [Bloomberg]
Rice Gene May Help Farmers Double Harvest, Chinese Study Shows [Bloomberg]
Posted by Tourbillon , May 05, 2008 11:47AM
wouldn't it be ORPC?
Posted by ab , May 05, 2008 12:01PM
"Burma responded with a cyclone killing hundreds and wiping out rice crops."
that's so evil...and so hilarious.
Posted by guest , May 05, 2008 12:06PM
@12:01 What I find interesting is that you can so easily shrug off so many deaths. We Americans are truly self absorbed. Think back to 9/11, how utterly devastated we were over 3,000 deaths. Reports are of 10,000 or so dying in Myanmar, yet we're non-plussed. That I think says something bad about us and our ability to compete in the larger world.
Posted by guest , May 05, 2008 12:10PM
12:06 here again. Further to this, anyone see Freidman's column yesterday, about the wonders of landing in Singapore, vs the horror of leaving from JFK. They're investing in what's important, we're debating about flag burning. Its like there's a race to the bottom here.
Posted by american bandersnatch , May 05, 2008 12:21PM
Who's debating flag burning? I haven't seen that discussed in a decade. I'm more focused on the candidate's bowling and shot doing skills. I would never vote for a candidate who can't bowl a strike or do a tequila shot without the aid of lemon and salt.
Posted by Master of None , May 05, 2008 12:36PM
Welcome to the international black market for... rice. Shall we start the bidding at $35 per 100 pounds?
Posted by guest , May 05, 2008 12:53PM
Thomas Friedman, as always, is full of bullshit. If you prefer a country with a nice aiport but political freedoms, then by all means move to Singapore.
Even worse, Friedman compares Penn station unfavorably to the Berlin main train station. Sure, the train station looks great, but the first time there was a storm (while I was living in Berlin), the entire thing was in danger of collapse and all of German rail was shut down. The pretty city of Berlin can't support itself and saps the productive parts of Germany of their tax dollars, bringing the entire country down with it. The train station would have been better if it worked properly and didn't cost so damn much money.
There should definitely be infrastructure investments in the US, but comparing the US to countries with heavy-handed, top-down managed economies is not going to prove this point. Thomas Friedman once again proves that he is terrible at economics.
Posted by guest , May 05, 2008 1:50PM
@12:53 Actually, I'd like a country with freedoms and good infrastructure. Why is that so difficult?
Posted by Anal_yst , May 05, 2008 2:20PM
@ 12:53
I mostly agree with you but do you already forget the "massive" rainstorm of last summer that effectively shut down all of NYC's subway system for 1/2 a day last summer? Inclimate weather doesn't just affect shiny new buildings in Europe (although I see your point that it should have been better-built/designed).