US: Rice Ban Triggers ‘Panic Buy’ In All States

The Indian government has imposed a ban on the export of non-basmati white rice. The ban may affect around 80 percent of India’s rice exports which reduces rice prices in India. But this notification from DGFT has left a negative impact on global prices and the US has been seeing a ‘panic buy’ situation already.

A lot of Indians have been flocking to Indian stores and Costco to stock up on the rice bags until the ban ends. But many Indian stores have limited the selling to the ‘1 person – 1 bag’ formula. Also, a lot of stores increased the prices between $32 and $47 which was not more than $22 earlier.

The uneven distribution of rainfall in the key rice-growing areas of the country has impacted the price to increase up to 20% in the last 10 days.

The videos showing the queues and fights for rice bags in US stores are now going viral. People were seen stocking up their car trunks with tens of bags while others were seen fighting for one single bag. The social media comments say that this panic buy is reminding the sanitizer and paper rolls scarcity during the Covid times.

People opine that this ban is temporary and the panic buy will stop within the next few days.