U.S. and global rice prices surged to record highs this spring. Thailand's high-quality long-grain rice-a benchmark for global trading prices-exceeded 1,000 dollar per ton in late April 2008, double its price in early February and triple prices of a year earlier. U.S. prices soared as well, with long-grain milled rice quoted at 950 dollar per ton, up 410 dollar from early February and more than double the price of a year earlier. The global market has a big impact on U.S. prices, as the U.S. exportsabout half its crop each year. Global prices have declined about 25 percent since late April; U.S. prices have dropped about 13 percent.
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