MUMBAI/ HANOI /BANGKOK/BANGLADESH: Prices of rice exported from top hub India fell for a third straight week, hitting a 15-month low, due to rupee depreciation and increased supply.

India’s 5% broken parboiled variety was quoted at $440-$447 per metric ton this week, the lowest since July 2023 and down from last week’s $442-$449.

Indian 5% broken white rice was quoted at $440-$450 per ton. The rupee has been falling over the past few days, prompting traders to lower export prices, a Kolkata-based trader said.

“Demand from African countries is strong, as they are now able to purchase rice at much lower prices than they were paying a month ago,” the trader said.

Last month, India scrapped the export tax on parboiled rice and removed the floor price of $490 a metric ton for the export of non-basmati white rice to boost exports.

Vietnam’s 5% broken rice was offered at $520-$525 per metric ton, unchanged from a week ago, traders based in the Mekong Delta region, the country’s rice bowl, said.

“Prices are stable amid dwindling supplies and concerns over an approaching storm that may cause rains,” said a trader based in An Giang province. “From the bidding result earlier this week, Bulog will buy over 80,000 tons from Vietnam, expected to be delivered in November and December.”

Vietnam exported 800,000 metric tons of rice in October, up 29.1% from the same month a year earlier, government data showed. Thailand’s 5% broken rice was quoted at $490 per metric ton, similar to last week’s $485-$495 range, due to the dollar’s appreciation after US elections, traders said.

Demand is stable, just seeing regular customers, said a Bangkok-based trader. Elsewhere, Bangladesh’s state grains buyer has issued an international tender to purchase 50,000 metric tons of rice, traders said on Tuesday. Floods in Bangladesh have destroyed an estimated 1.1 million metric tons of rice, according to data from the agriculture ministry.