Five Asian rice producers, led by Thailand, are considering the establishment of a cartel –similar to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries – to better control the supply and price of rice.

The food crisis, caused by a spike in staple food prices, has prompted the president of Thailand to try to create a rice cartel.

This from The New York Times:

The prime minister of Thailand, Samak Sundaravej, said Wednesday that his government would try to create a cartel of rice-producing countries in partnership with Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos.

At their two-day meeting that starts today, Tuesday, U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers will have to grapple with a moral choice that is well beyond the pay grade of central bankers – choosing between the financial stability of U.S. homeowners and world hunger.

As investors search for a suitable rice ETF or commodities ETF to profit from rising food prices, news from Vietnam shows that the food crisis is from over.

According to Reuters: “Vietnam acted to quell panic over rice supplies on Monday, banning speculation in the market after a ‘chaotic’ buying binge in the Southeast Asian nation highlighted growing global fears about food security.

The move comes as protests spread through Africa over rising food prices, which aid experts have warned threaten to starve 100 people.

It’s not just the credit crisis that has been keeping policymakers awake at night. A food crisis is sweeping the world like “a silent tsunami”, as Josette Sheeran of the World Food programme puts it, leaving widespread riots and rattled governments in its wake.

With the run on rice in the US in full swing and sky high rice prices still grabbing the the headlines, investors are looking for a rice ETF to profit from the situation.

Unfortunately, there is still no specific ETF for rice. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any commodities ETFs to help investors profit from the rise in rice and grain prices.

“Commodity service-providers have launched a blizzard of commodities ETFs over the last 12 months,” says Eric Roseman in the Offshore A-Letter.

The food crisis — caused by sky-high rice prices and grain prices — has now hit Americans, prompting many visitors to this site to ask: Is there a rice ETF?

According to the Washington Times, “Costco and other grocery stores in California reported a run on rice, which has forced them to set limits on how many sacks of rice each customer can buy.”

Meanwhile, reports the paper, “Filipinos in Canada are scooping up all the rice they can find and shipping it to relatives in the Philippines, which is suffering a severe shortage that is leaving many people hungry.

Rice prices have hit fresh records after World Bank officials said Thailand, the largest exporter of the grain, may restrict exports, worsening the global food crisis.

The price of rice, which has doubled in the past year, jumped 2.3% in Chicago today.

“Soft commodities are now the best-performing sub-set of the commodity bull market,” says Eric Roseman in the Offshore A-Letter.

The world could be “one crop failure away from an actual food crisis”, said George Wehrfritz and Jason Overdorf in Newsweek. Driven partly by speculation, the per-ton cost of rice, wheat and corn has surged 50% or more since mid-2007; Thai white rice prices are up 40% since the start of the year and world rice stockpiles are at their lowest levels since the 1980s.

In Far East trading, both gold and silver got sold off…starting at the Hong Kong open. However, the bottom was in the moment that London traders showed up for the day. But the real fireworks didn’t start until the New York traders joined the party…then both metals staged huge rallies. This was, of course, on the back of the US$/oil news.