Here's three charts of most recent numbers. There's some interesting information here:

The first chart is who consumes the most rice. No major surprises there:

Rice Consumption by Nation

But then we move on to who produces how much:

Rice Production By Nation

Now, we are starting to see some "issues". Some consumers on the 1st list, have no measurable production capability (on the 2nd list). And other nations have some large gaps between their consumption and their production.

So let's take a look at the rice exporting nations:

Rice Exports By Nation

Now, we have some serious issues. By my count, at least five of those exporting nations have put some form of export controls/tariffs on their food exports, rice in particular.

And the latest is that 2 of the top 3 (Thailand and India; #1 and #3 respectively) have both just "indicated" (from the government, no less) that they expect that a new "base price" of $1,000 per ton will be the minimum price for rice exports. For comparison, at the end of 2007, price was around $360 a ton. This last week in Thailand, rice hit $760 a ton.

Exporters are literally having to break existing supply contracts left and right because the farmers and millers they buy from are simply refusing to supply the rice already contracted for at lower prices.

Btw, two of the bigger rice importers (Indonesia and Iran) are already squawking about prices and terms. Iran in particular.

That's going to be a fun set of negotiations to watch. Because truth of the matter is that the most open source of supply for rice right now is the US.