China has been the world’s largest producer and consumer of rice. It has been a net exporter shipping to Asian and African countries. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 1998 China accounted for 14% of the global rice market. In the past three years however, China has become a net importer of rice buying from Vietnam, Pakistan and Myanmar. Domestic price supports making foreign rice cheaper than domestic product coupled with the recent cadmium contamination scare and concerns about soil pollution have all driven the shift. In 2012 China imported 2.9 million tons of rice and is expected to import 3 million tons in 2013. China is the world’s largest soybean importer, the second largest wheat importer after Egypt this year, and is seeing growing corn imports. It is assumed that rice imports will continue to grow as well unless Beijing puts trade barriers in place. Ultimately price will be the determining factor.
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