Lack of suitable hedging options leaves Asian rice exporters exposed

Liquidity and political risk considerations hinder Thai rice producers' attempts to hedge out looming downside risk

Asia's international rice players have no viable financial contracts to protect them from an expected pronounced drop in prices resulting from the eventual wholesale release of hoarded rice stocks in Thailand, according to market players.

Pressure is mounting on the Thai government to release some or all of the 18 million tonnes of rice it holds in storage – around half the amount of total annual global rice exports – as a result of a domestic rice subsidy scheme introduced in September 2011