Vietnam bans rice speculation

By Grant McCool

HO CHI MINH CITY (Reuters) - Vietnam banned rice speculation after a surge in buying over the weekend in southern Vietnam but said it had sufficient stocks for domestic consumption and exports.

The ban is the latest sign of growing unease over food supplies around Asia, where some governments have been spooked by the possibility of a shortfall in staple rice and a three-fold price increase caused by export curbs by key suppliers including Vietnam, the world's number-two exporter.

On Saturday, people rushed to supermarkets in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's largest urban area, to buy the staple food as many rice mills in the Mekong Delta food-producing area and small rice stalls in the city halted sales.

At Ba Chieu market in the city centre on Sunday, some stalls were empty and people were seen loading up to 10 10-kg bags of rice on motorbikes as vendors changed prices.

"The government should control the price," said a customer in the market, who declined to give her name. "It is rising very fast and sometimes it changes daily. If prices are too high, people will go hungry."

Vietnam's yearly inflation rose 21.4 percent in April, one of the highest inflation rates in Asia. Rice prices in Vietnam have risen 25 percent this month from the end of March and surged 85 percent since last April to 5,500 dong (35 U.S. cents) per kg of paddy as of Friday.

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