Several stores in the United States have put a limit on the purchase of rice after people resorted to panic buying in several states following India's move to impose restrictions on the export of a certain category of rice. From the US to Canada and Australia, reports of overseas Indians stocking up went viral.

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Long queues were seen outside US stores and chaos unraveled after "an immediate surge in demand" prompted Indians residing in the US to begin "stockpiling the commodity, causing a rapid increase in prices".

Following India's ban on rice exports, there was an immediate surge in demand as Indians residing in the US began stockpiling the commodity, causing a rapid increase in prices. pic.twitter.com/0m1Zv3DKhv

— Ashwin Nagar / अश्विन नागर‏ (@ashwinnagar) July 22, 2023

As NRIs and Asian people continue to throng at many supermarket chains to hoard rice, many US stores have put a limit on the sale of rise. "Many of them have opted for ‘Only 1 rice bag per family’ to deal with the chaos among the public," Mint reported.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that "some shops have imposed buying limits, while others hiked prices to cash in on the frenzy. Indian restaurants worry about a shortage".

On July 20, India banned the export of non-basmati white rice to boost domestic supply and keep retail prices under check during the upcoming festive season. The government amended the export policy from 'Free with export duty of 20%' to 'Prohibited' with immediate effect.

This type of rice constitutes about 25 percent of the total rice exported from the country. "There would be no change in export policy of par-boiled non-basmati rice and basmati rice, which forms the bulk of exports," the food ministry had said in a statement.

Following this, a surge in panic buying of rice was seen in departmental stores across the US. Several videos were shared on social media platforms claiming that Indians in the US had started hoarding bags of rice. While CNBC-TV18 could not vouch for the veracity of the said videos, we were able to independently confirm that the hoarding began in California, Chicago, New Jersey and even in parts of Canada.

At the Indian store today for spices, I checked to see if rice prices went up due to the export ban.I was shocked to see this.Limits on quantities.

Stock up on your staples NOW. Other countries are looking at the ban on rice and are stock piling. pic.twitter.com/kns8AtoQ3E— Lisa Muhammad (@iamlisamuhammad) July 23, 2023

Now, global rice importers are likely to seek direct deals with governments in exporting countries as India's ban on shipments of a key variety is squeezing supplies and igniting concerns over food security. Buyers from Africa to Asia are likely to scramble for rice shipments as supplies tighten in the coming months.

The ban will cut the availability of the staple on world markets by about a fifth, traders and analysts said, and could lead to importers seeking more government-to-government deals to overcome shortages and tame spiralling prices.

(With inputs from agencies)

First Published:Jul 26, 2023 12:35 PM IST