Shipping crisis halts rice exports to Iraq

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Surging freight rates and a shortage of containers have disrupted global rice trade, with shipments to Iraq from Asia now halted, according to S&P Global’s Platts.

A Bangkok-based trader reported that exports to Iraq have stopped as instability in the Gulf and rising maritime costs make the route commercially unviable. Fuel-linked surcharges and tightening container availability are forcing exporters to reconsider contracts, reshaping flows across key Asian supply routes.