Top rice supplier India bans some exports

MUMBAI: The world's biggest rice exporter India has banned some overseas sales of the grain "with immediate effect," the government said, in a move that could drive international prices even higher.

Rice is a major world food staple and prices on international markets have soared to decade highs as the world grappled with the Covid pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the impact of the El Niño weather phenomenon on production levels.