Yesterday while flying back to Appleton, I read a shocking headline in the Financial Times about the world price of rice jumping 30% on Thursday. After reading that story, I went out today and bought more rice for my food storage. Why would I buy right after a sharp price surge when rice is at an all time high? And why do I think you should rush out and stock up today? Because the price at most local grocery stores probably has not been marked up to reflect what just happened in global markets. At Aldi, I bought rice under 39 cents a pound, which is very close to its bulk price on global markets right now ($760 a tonne - with a metric tonne being 2205 lbs, this is 35.4 cents/lb). I would suggest that if you can find it for under 50 cents a pound locally, stock up now (Saturday night).

Rice has doubled in recent months, and the 30% spike on Thursday is especially troubling. While the weakness of the dollar has made the increase especially painful for US residents, the world price increase is due to much more than currency weakness. There is a shortage, with stocks at all time lows and major exporters like Egypt stopping or reducing exports to help lower prices at home.
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