BENGALURU/MUMBAI/BANGKOK/HANOI/BANGLADESH: Prices of rice exported from Thailand and Vietnam slipped this week on slow buying as traders await import policy changes from their major buyer Philippines to take effect, while high freight rates hit African demand for the Indian variety.

Thailand’s 5% broken rice rates dropped to $585 per ton on Thursday, their lowest level since April 25, and were down from $595 last week. “The Philippines is considering changing import policy and lowering of import tax.

So exporters are slowing down in buying rice,” a Bangkok-based trader said. A new supply of rice should enter the market this month, the trader said, adding that it could lead to a further price drop in the coming weeks.

Vietnam’s 5% broken rice prices were offered at $575 per ton on Thursday, down from a range of $575-$580 a week earlier, traders said. “Trade is slow as buyers are waiting for the Philippines’ tariff cut to take effect,” a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City said. Vietnam exported 650,000 metric tons of rice in June, up 5.7% against the same month a year earlier, government data showed.

Top exporter India’s 5% broken parboiled variety was quoted at $541-$548 per ton this week, unchanged from last week. “African buyers are very price-sensitive and they are holding back purchases due to rising freight charges,” said an exporter based in Kakinada in southern Andhra Pradesh state.

The Baltic Exchange’s main sea freight index was near a two-month high this week. Meanwhile, despite Bangladesh approving the import of nearly 2 million tons of rice, no rice had been brought into the country as of last April, according to officials from the food ministry.

The government is struggling to control prices of the staple grain for the nation as rice prices have stayed elevated despite good yield and stocks.