Rice trade in top Asian producers - Vietnam and Thailand - was slim this week as high prices kept buyers at bay, while severe droughts put more pressure on these countries' limited supply, traders said on Wednesday. Vietnam 5-percent broken rice remained unchanged from the previous week at $380-$385 a tonne, free-on-board (FOB) basis, while the same grain in Thailand widened to $367-$381 a tonne, from $371-$383 last week, traders said.
Rice export prices stayed high in Vietnam, the world's third biggest rice exporter, as limited supplies prompted stockpiling by domestic traders and farmers as severe drought stressed the situation further. "Buyers immediately jump to other markets such as Pakistan after hearing our rice prices," said a Ho Chi Minh City-based trader. Salination and dryness have affected 160,000 hectares (395,000 acres) of rice so far this year in the Delta, or about 10 percent of the total area planted under the key crop, according to the Agriculture Ministry of Vietnam.
Thailand is also facing its worst water shortage in two decades, while a shift in the baht/dollar rate widened the prices. Thai baht depreciated to 35.44 baht on Tuesday from 35.1 last Wednesday. "Thai rice prices have hit a low number. They only appear to go up or down because of the baht/dollar rate," said a Bangkok-based trader, citing that the value of rice itself has remained flat for months. There were no deals signed from overseas importers in the world's second-biggest rice exporter.