Thailand, the world's biggest rice exporter, said Friday that it wants to form an OPEC-style cartel with four Southeast Asian neighbors so that together they have more control over international prices of the commodity, according to AP. Thai Commerce Minister Mingkwan Saengsuwan plans to talk with his counterparts in Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam about forming a cartel to gain more influence over prices, said government spokesman Vichienchot Sukchokrat. «Though we are the food center of the world, we have had little influence on the price,» Vichienchot said. «With the oil price rising so much, we import expensive oil but sell rice very cheaply and that's unfair to us and hurts our trade balance.» Rice prices have tripled this year, with the regional benchmark hitting US$1,000 a metric ton for 100 percent Grade B white rice. The run-up in rice prices has come amid global food inflation, poor weather in some rice-producing nations.
