Qatar rice stocks dry up amid rising prices

"The shortage of rice coupled with the steep price hike has put the residents in a fix. The labourers, who depend on restaurants and small eateries, have been the worst hit, with price of boiled rice going up by 60-80 per cent," a media report said today.     

Market enquiries revealed that the non-basmati rice has stopped coming in from India almost a couple of months ago.     

 

"We are totally depending on the rice from Thailand. During the last few months, the price of boiled rice has risen threefold and the market also feels the shortage of Basmati rice", the manager of a leading retail outlet in Doha was quoted as saying in the Peninsula daily.   
  
The price of boiled rice in the local market has surged by 70-80 per cent over the last four months.

A 20-kg bag of non-basmati rice, which was available for QR 50 ($1=3.6 QR), is now being sold for QR 110.

The price of 40 kg Basmati rice bag has gone up from QR 210 to QR 300 in the same period.     

The prices of all varieties of rice are expected to further go up in the gulf nation following India's decision not to relax a ban on rice exports imposed in March.

Distributors say price of rice would come under further pressure as stocks are fast depleting.