MUMBAI/HANOI /BANGKOK/DHAKA: Prices of rice exported from top hub India edged higher this week from a near six-month trough as weaker rates attracted buyers from other Asian countries, while comparatively higher rates in Vietnam posed risks to demand in the near term.

India’s 5% broken parboiled variety was quoted at $375-$380 per tonne, up from the last week’s $374-$378.

“Buying from Asian countries has improved a bit because of lower prices, although the majority of buyers are still on the sidelines,” said an exporter based at Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

Neighbouring Bangladesh, which often requires imports to cope with shortages caused by natural calamities such as floods, doesn’t need to import rice this year, its food minister said.

“There is a good harvest in the country, so there is no need to import rice,” Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder told reporters. Vietnam’s 5% broken rice was offered at $490-$495 per tonne, unchanged from a week ago, which was the highest level since late April.

“Trading activity is quiet as some buyers are slowing their purchases due to high prices,” a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City said. Vietnam’s rice exports in the first five months of this year are estimated to have risen about 40.8% from a year earlier to 3.9 million tonnes, government data showed on Monday