International Business
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
China Bans Rice Futures Trading: Signaling growing alarm at rocketing grain prices that are fueling inflation, the government said it is banning the trading in Shanghai, dealing a blow to a key Chinese commodities market. Some contracts in long-grain polished rice on the Shanghai Cereals and Oils Exchange were suspended Monday, and others will be phased out. Rice accounted for about 90% of volume on the exchange before September, when Beijing began clamping tight controls over trading by narrowing intra-day price movements and ordering traders to unwind positions. Rice prices have been soaring since July, when floods and drought devastated vast grain-growing areas of the country.
