By Bill Tomson
Agri-Pulse
Armed thieves are threatening the viability of U.S. rice exports to Haiti, the largest foreign market for U.S. long grain milled rice.
The thieves have stolen 500 metric tons of U.S. rice worth $300,000 over the past three weeks, and U.S. farmers and millers are hoping the government can quell the chaos and crime that has been gripping the country.
The situation has gotten so bad that the future of U.S. rice exports to Haiti — roughly 500,000 metric tons per year — is uncertain as exporters and the companies that provide insurance for shipments to Port-au-Prince weigh the risks of continuing to do business with importers there.