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HONG KONG : Hong Kong shoppers are stocking up on rice amid rocketing global food prices, a major retail chain said on Tuesday, as the government tried to prevent any panic-buying of the staple food.
"There is a sufficient supply of rice in Hong Kong. There is no need for the public to worry," a spokesman for the trade and industry department said in a statement released on Monday.
The statement said they had imported more rice than at the same stage last year and stockholders were obliged to keep large reserves.
"We understand that recent price increase in Thai rice is mainly attributable to exchange rate changes and global shortage of rice supply," the spokesman added.
Shoppers have been clearing shelves in supermarkets of rice, as they worry that increases will be passed on to consumers, media reports said Tuesday.
Hong Kong is extremely vulnerable to any global commodity prices, as it imports almost all of its food from abroad.
Around 90 percent of the city's rice is imported from Thailand. The export price of Thai Hom Mali Rice, the main type bought here, has jumped more than 20 percent in four weeks, the South China Morning Post said.
Parknshop, one of the Hong Kong's largest retailers, said it was monitoring the situation closely, but had not yet passed on the price increases.
"We have seen increased buying, customer demand is quite high, but we are replenishing," Jasmine Hui, the spokeswoman for Parknshop, told AFP.
"We would like to stress that we do have enough supply, and it has been quite steady. We are facing pressure (on price), however, we are trying to absorb the difference."
A combination of bad weather in Bangladesh, pests and disease in Vietnam and political problems in Myanmar have pushed the global price for rice close to 1,000 dollars per tonne.
The recent rises have been matched across a range of agricultural commodities, as increased global demand along with a boom in growing crops for fuel instead of food has pushed up prices. - AFP/de
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