Prices of rice exported from top hub India hovered around a three-month low on sluggish demand and abundant supplies, while Thai rates increased to a more than one-month high on favourable domestic demand.
India’s 5% broken parboiled variety was quoted at $528-$536 per ton this week, unchanged from last week.
“There wasn’t much movement in the market. Buyers are postponing purchases as prices have been correcting in all major exporting countries,” an exporter in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh said.
Thailand’s 5% broken rice prices rose slightly to $588–$595 per ton from last week’s price range of $580-$585.
Prices would remain strong due to domestic demand and activity, a Bangkok-based trader said, adding that droughts could also cause prices to remain high.
Demand was gradually increasing and deliveries were being made, according to another trader in the city.
Asia rice: Firm demand from Indonesia props up Thai rates
Vietnam’s 5% broken rice was offered at $577-$580 on Thursday, slightly up from a week earlier, traders said, noting prices stayed stable during the holidays.
The country’s markets were closed from Monday through Wednesday for national holidays.
Vietnam exported 3.23 million metric tons of rice in the first four months of this year, up 11.7% from a year earlier, government data released on Monday showed. Rice export revenue in the period rose 36.5% to $2.08 billion.
Meanwhile, in Bangladesh, an ongoing heatwave caused by a combination of high temperatures and low rainfall could ruin rice crops in the country’s main rice-growing region this summer.