Brazil announced Wednesday it has temporarily halted rice exports to ensure domestic supply amid rising world prices for the grain.

Brazil grows more rice than it consumes and has a reserve that will safeguard the country's supply, Agriculture Minister Reinhold Stephanes said in a statement.

Sales abroad will nevertheless be blocked to make sure the country has enough of the grain for the next six to eight months.

Several Asian countries recently suspended rice exports to guarantee their own supplies, causing an imbalance in world markets, Stephanes said.

"We will follow the movement of the principal world producers," Stephanes said. "With the favourable price, it's possible that there will be an increase in production and that the supply situation will be resolved next year."

Brazil will not meet recent requests by African and Latin American countries for shipments totalling nearly 500,000 tons of rice, he said.

The grain is a staple of the Brazilian diet.