Vietnamese prices were stable this week due to loading for the Philippines and Chinese buying, while rising supply and thin demand weakened prices in top exporter Thailand, traders said on Wednesday. China, the largest Vietnamese rice buyer, has been taking fragrant grain and white rice from Vietnam, helping trim price declines as harvesting peaks. A stockpiling plan has also buoyed prices.
The 5-percent broken grade stood at $365-$375 a tonne, free-on-board (FOB) Saigon Port, against $360-$380 last Wednesday, and 25-percent broken rice was offered at $345-$350 a tonne, narrowing from $340-$355 a week ago.
Loading for the Philippines has also supported prices, while Mekong Delta farmers have finished more than half their harvest, traders said.
Vietnam has been loading under a 300,000-tonne deal for the Philippines for delivery until April 30.
Cheaper grain in Pakistan and India has attracted African buyers, reducing purchases from Vietnam, traders said. India is the world's second-biggest exporter after Thailand.
No 3 exporter Vietnam shipped 750,000 tonnes of the grain between January 1 and March 15, down 28 percent from a year ago, the country's customs said.
Prices in Thailand weakened this week as ample stocks prompt buyers to reduce buying, traders said.
"The market is unusually quiet now," a Thai trader said, adding that African demand was absent.
"Buyers are generally buying less rice nowadays because there is always some available on demand," he said.
"They don't have to buy large amounts anymore, which means the market does not move as much as it used to."
Thai benchmark 5-percent broken rice ticked up to $397 a tonne, FOB basis, from its lowest so far this year at $396 on Friday, but still below the $403 seen last Wednesday.
The Thai government will delay its next rice stock sale to avoid pushing down already low prices and eating into the income of farmers harvesting their off-season crop.
"The rice exporters association has also urged the government not to hold another tender," the Thai-trader said, noting that fresh grain from the off-season had begun to arrive.
The Thai government has yet to finalise results of a tender at which bids were for 780,000 tonnes out of the 1 million tonnes on offer.
Comments
Comments are closed.