THAILAND YESTERDAY said it planned to barter rice for oil with Iran in the clearest example to date of how the triple financial, fuel and food crisis is reshaping global trade as countries struggle with high commodity prices and a lack of credit.
The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation said such government-to-government bartering - a system of trade not used for decades - was likely to become more common as the private sector was finding it hard to access credit for food imports.
"Government-to-government deals will increase in number," said Concepción Calpe, a senior economist at the FAO in Rome.
"The lack of credit for trade could lead also to a resurgence of barter deals between countries," she added. Officials and traders noted, however, that Iran was not typical because the US-led sanctions against its banks meant the country was facing difficulties financing agricultural trade even before the financial crisis.
Bangkok's commerce ministry yesterday said it was sending a delegation to Tehran to discuss the barter deal. Thailand is the world's largest rice exporter, controlling a third of the global market, while Iran is one of the top 10 importers.
Last year Iran bought some 600,000 tonnes of rice from Thailand, but so far this year it has bought only 60,000 tonnes as it has waited for prices to fall.
The price of Thai medium-quality white rice soared to an all-time high of above $1,000 (€ 798) a tonne in May but has since dropped to $660 a tonne.
