Rice prices are expected to be stable during Ramadan as forecasts indicate an abundance of harvest this season. Muhammad Al-Sha'lan, member of the Food Committee at the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI), ruled out any hike in prices by rice producers as production is expected to be plentfiul. He said the purchase of a large reserve earlier helped in keeping prices stable during the recent worldwide shortage, Al-Watan reported. Yusuf Al-Qaffari, managing director and executive president of Al-Othaim Markets Company, also confirmed that price of rice will be stable in the coming months especially in Ramadan. Every year 30 percent of the rice consumed in Saudi Arabia is wasted. Al-Qaffari urged consumers to waste less of the rice they buy. Reducing wasted rice will decrease the cost of rice and consquently reduce the demand, Al-Qaffari said. Around 75 percent of Indian rice is exported to the Gulf region alone. Up to 600,000 tons of subsidized rice are being imported for December, during the periods of reduced production, Al-Sha'lan said. A salesman at a large supermarket in Jeddah said the increased prices of rice bags have been in effect for the past four months and he has received no information of new prices for Ramadan. According to official statistics Saudis spend SR3billion on rice annually. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, since December 2007, the forecast of world rice supplies in 2008 decreased by 1.5 million tons to 28.8 million tons. This largely reflected more difficult access to international supplies after large rice exporters like China and India imposed restrictions on rice. The restrictions were based in part on growing domestic demand which reduced exports worldwide drastically. __
