So, What's The Price Of Rice In China? -- Wednesday Morning Links, News, And Views -- Part I

It seems like just yesterday that folks said the earth's population was running out of food, and that global warming was making things worse. So this story caught me by surprise: Asia's rice glut is expected to worse. The Wall Street Journal is reporting:

Asia is awash in rice, as favorable weather and government support for farmers combine to produce a bumper crop.

The glut is driving down prices for big rice importers in Africa and China. But consumers in some of the biggest rice-producing nations, including Thailand and India, are paying higher prices as surplus supplies sit in government warehouses. Asia's surplus will have little impact in the U.S., which produces different varieties of rice.

When traveling by train from New Delhi to neighboring states, a common sight in the countryside is rice piled high on wooden plinths, protected only by plastic tarps. In Thailand, the government has considered using a warehouse at the city's old airport to store rice because other storage facilities are full.

The surplus is the result of good weather and government programs that encourage rice growing. World rice stockpiles are expected to rise 2% this year, the ninth consecutive annual increase, according to the London-based International Grains Council.

Nice article from Platts to help shed light on RINS and fuel exports.  So far, RINS not leading to surge in exports.

EU joblessness: down for first time in two years. 

Further evidence emerged Wednesday that the eurozone economy is on the mend after struggling with a recession that's seen unemployment edge toward the 20 million mark.

Figures from Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, showed that the number of unemployed across the 17 European Union countries that use the euro fell by 24,000 in June to 19.27 million.

That's the first fall since April 2011 and adds to the weight of recent evidence that suggests the recession in the eurozone has — or is about to — come to an end.