Investing in the commodities markets is always a risky adventure in the best of times. Add in a few bad years or weather or economic conditions and the scenario can get either incredibly profitable or disastrously damaging. Add to the scene a commodity that the world considers its staple food source and anything can happen, unless one has positioned themselves to account for the most improbable profit situations.

China Organic Agriculture Inc., an organic rice grower and wholesale marketer, serves the domestic Chinese rice markets through; company leased rice properties, buying from family leased rice operations, buying on the open market and purchasing from third party growers on fixed contracts. Although there may be issues several years out, the company has effectively shielded itself from rice speculators through these fixed contracts and leasing/contracting a majority of its production/facilities.

The company has now found itself in a positive long term position after the

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Roel Landingin and Javier Blas writing in the Financial Times:The Philippines failed to buy enough rice on Tuesday to boost its inventories and faced prices more than 40 per cent high­er than two months ago in the latest sign of a rapid tight­­ening of the global rice market.The failure underscores the risk that rice could be in short supply in south-east Asia countries, where the grain is a staple food. It also signals further food inflation pressures in the region, where consumer prices are rising quickly.The world’s largest rice exporters, including Vietnam, India and Egypt, have imposed foreign sales restrictions to keep their domestic markets well supplied, tightening further the global market. More curbs are likely in the coming months as the rice market faces strong demand and lagging supplies, the US Department of Agriculture has warned. Global rice stocks are set to ...