Sam’s Marks 25, Curbs Rice Buys

Sam’s Club, a division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville, celebrated its 25th anniversary on April 18, but the big news that followed was about 20-pound bags of rice.

As food prices rise around the globe, leading to protests and export restrictions in developing nations, Sam’s and Costco Wholesale Corp. of Seattle announced limits on bulk rice purchases at their warehouse stores.

Sam’s is allowing four 20-pound bags of rice per customer while Costco limited customers to one large bag each at certain locations.

Agricultural experts and company officials have repeatedly stressed that there is no rice shortage in the United States, and in a follow-up statement on April 24 Sam’s Club indicated it was protecting its supplies from hoarding.

“These limits are designed to prevent large distributors or wholesalers from depleting our stock,” the company stated. “We believe limiting rice purchases to four bags per visit is consistent with the needs of the majority of our members, including many restaurants.”

Nearly all of the rice consumed in the U.S. is produced domestically and the U.S. accounts for about 12 percent of the export market while producing just 1.5 percent to 2 percent of the total world supply.

The U.S. sells around 50 percent of its rice yield overseas, which drove up American rice future prices to record highs April 24 after the moves by Sam’s and Costco.

An April 30 crop report showed planting accelerating in response and easing fears of further tightening of supplies. Arkansas held its position as leading rice-producing state in 2007 with 95.7 million hundredweight, or around 48 percent of the nation’s total.