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Citing Supply, Sam's Club and Costco Limit Sales of Rice
Jenna Liu in Mountain View, Calif., loads her allotted bag of rice at Costco, which imposed limits on bulk rice purchases at some stores.
(By Paul Sakuma -- Associated Press)
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Sam's Club has 593 stores compared with 2,523 Wal-Mart Supercenters that combine a grocery section with general merchandise.
Costco has 534 warehouses worldwide, most of them in the United States.
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Deisha Galberth said Wal-Mart stores have no plans for restrictions similar to those at Sam's Club.
"We are not seeing any signs of concern in the supply chain that would cause us to limit the sales of any items," Galberth said.
U.S. rice futures soared to an all-time high Wednesday as investors bet that surging world demand will continue to pressure already dwindling stockpiles. Rice for the most actively traded July contract jumped 62 cents, to $24.82 per 100 pounds on the Chicago Board of Trade, after earlier rising to a record $24.85.
Relentless demand from developing countries and poor crop yields have pushed rice prices up 70 percent this year, raising concerns of severe shortages of the staple consumed by almost half the world's population.
Brazil announced yesterday that it temporarily halted rice exports to ensure domestic supply as global prices rise.
The steep increases have followed similar jumps in the price of wheat, corn and soybeans that have added to Americans' rising grocery bills and led to violent food riots in poor countries including Haiti, Senegal and Pakistan.
