UN food agency says rice prices surging in Myanmar

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The cyclone hit May 3, killing thousands of people and displacing many more and rendering roads and bridges impassable. It struck as paddy farmers were harvesting the dry season crop that accounts for 20 percent of annual production, said the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization.

The destruction could reduce access to food and may force Myanmar to seek imports from neighboring countries, such as Thailand and Vietnam, putting further pressure on world prices, it said. Myanmar has previously been self-sufficient and an exporter of rice.

The devastation could negatively impact global rice production, the FAO said. The agency is forecasting a new record of 666 million tons worldwide this year, a global increase of 2.3 percent.

Production in Asia is expected to rise to 605 million tons from 600 million tons, with particularly large increases in Bangladesh, China, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, the FAO said.

African production is forecast to grow nearly 4 percent to 23.2 million tons and in Latin America by 7.4 percent to 26 million tons, the agency said.

Rice production is expected to be down in Australia, the United States and Europe.

Rice prices skyrocketed by 76 percent from December to April, triggered in part by export restrictions in countries worried about food scarcity. The FAO said prices are expected to remain high.