Asian rice export prices were mixed this week, with prices in India rising on limited supplies, while Thai prices eased due to major auctions of state stockpiles, traders said on Wednesday. India's 5 percent broken parboiled rice rose by $1 per tonne this week to $383-$393 per tonne, free on board (FOB), on dwindling supplies in the local market.
"Limited supplies are available from the old crop. It is giving support to prices," said an exporter based at Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. As of last Friday, farmers in the world's biggest rice exporter had cultivated rice on 13.1 million hectares, slightly higher than the 12.6 million hectares in the same period last year. The area under rice cultivation is likely to rise in 2016 as monsoon is forecast to deliver surplus rainfalls.
In Vietnam, the world's third-largest rice exporter after India and Thailand, prices of the 5 percent broken rice from the summer-autumn crop narrowed to $360-$365 a tonne on Wednesday, FOB basis, from $357-$365 a week ago, traders said. "Sales are very slow this week," said a Vietnamese trader in Ho Chi Minh City.
Traders said most African buyers and several Chinese importers have now turned to Thailand for cheaper rice. Prices of the Thai 5-percent broken rice this week edged down to $415-$432 a tonne, FOB basis, from $420-$435 a tonne last Thursday, as the government conducted two auctions on Monday to sell 3.91 million tonnes from state stockpiles.
"Prices weakened slightly because of the auctions," said a Bangkok-based trader. "Traders are waiting to see how much they were able to buy from there." The government said the final sales amount of the two auctions will be approved and announced on Aug. 1.
Thailand has stocks of about 9.5 million tonnes after buying rice from farmers at prices exceeding global rates under a scheme put in place by ousted former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The government expects to clear the entire stockpile in state warehouses through auctions by mid-2017. India, Thailand and Vietnam together account for around 60 percent of global rice trade.
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