Reuters

BENGALURU/ MUMBAI/HANOI/BANGKO: Thai rice export prices climbed to a one-month peak this week, buoyed by foreign demand, while Indian rice prices held steady near a 15-month low due to ample supplies.

Exports are making the market active, a Bangkok-based trader said, adding that demand was from regular customers like the Philippines, Indonesia, other Asian countries.

Thai rice exports were up 20% in January-October, compared to the same period a year earlier. Thailand’s 5% broken rice rose to its highest since the week of Oct. 24 at $500 per tonne from $490-$495 quoted last week.

Prices also rose because of exchange rates, another trader said, adding that prices would become more competitive towards the end of the year due to lower prices from India.

Top exporter India’s 5% broken parboiled variety was quoted at $440-$447 per ton for the third consecutive week, the lowest level since July 2023. “Buyers are holding back on purchases lately since prices have been dropping over the past few weeks. They’re expecting supplies to go up in India, so they’re taking it slow,” said a Mumbai-based exporter.

The country scrapped the export tax on parboiled rice and removed the floor price of $490 a ton for the export of non-basmati white rice to boost exports last month. Rice inventories in India reached an all-time high in November.

Vietnam’s 5% broken rice was offered at $520 per metric ton on Thursday, compared with a range of $515-$520 a week ago, according to the Vietnam Food Association.

“Trading activity is quiet,” a trader based in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang said. Vietnam exported 293,484 tons of rice in the first half of November, raising the country’s total rice shipments in the year to Nov. 15 to 8.05 million tons valued at $5.05 billion, according to the government’s customs data.

Published Date: November 22, 2024