<h1>Trade disruption: West Asia crisis halts rice exports, raising costs and threatening supply chains and small mill viability</h1> The West Asia crisis has disrupted exports of Raisen basmati and Balaghat boiled non-basmati rice by raising freight rates and creating container shortages, causing port backlogs, delayed shipments, strained payment cycles and working capital, falling farmgate and rice prices, reduced paddy arrivals, and threatening small and medium millers despite regional product identification used in exports.