THE RICE RUSH: After record harvests, a global glut - and an unlikely savior

摘要

RICE IS A GLOBAL FOOD, but hardly a global commodity. Just a smidgen of the world's rice supply each year - less than 8% - is traded between countries. Nations grow rice to feed their people, and because the countries that consume the most rice also produce the most, little of the grain has crisscrossed the globe. At least until recently. China, for years the world's biggest rice producer and consumer, this year will become the world's premier rice importer, passing Nigeria. China has been a net importer of rice only a handful of times since Communists took control in 1949. Today there are no deficits - the country has adequate stockpiles of the indica variety grown across the south.