Export prices for rice from Vietnam hit their lowest level in more than three months due to weak demand, while rates in other Asian hubs held steady this week.
Rates for Vietnam's 5% broken rice variety slipped to $400-$410 per tonne, the lowest since Sept. 9, from $410-$414 per tonne last week.
"Demand is weaker and this year's total rice exports maybe just around six million tonnes, down from a previous forecast of 6.2-6.5 million tonnes," a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City said.
The country's November rice exports were down 8.4% from the previous month at 566,358 tonnes, official customs data showed. Exports in the first 11 months of this year rose 0.8% year-on-year to 5.7 million tonnes.
Asia Rice: Indian prices fall to five-year low as rupee weakens
Thailand's 5% broken rice export prices were unchanged at $385-$396 per tonne, tracking muted moves in the baht versus the US dollar.
Bangkok-based traders said the overseas market remained quiet towards the end of the year, as expected.
Prices of the staple from top exporter India held at their lowest since December 2016, pressured by a depreciating rupee amid thin demand.
India's 5% broken parboiled variety was quoted at $351 to $356 per tonne, unchanged from last week.
"(Buyers) are expecting further fall in prices as new season supplies have started," said an exporter based at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.
Meanwhile, domestic rates for rice in neighbouring Bangladesh, traditionally the world's third-biggest rice producer which emerged as a major buyer after flood depleted stocks, remained high despite hefty imports, hitting consumers.
Bangladesh has been importing mostly from India through land ports.
However, the country's rice output could fall to 35.5 million tonnes in the 2021-22 marketing year, down 0.8 million tonnes from the previous year, the United States Department of Agriculture said in its latest forecast.
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