Asia Rice - Vietnam export rates rise as floods and landslides hit supply

Vietnamese rice export prices rose this week as supplies were thinned by floods and landslides, while logistical constraints slowed shipments out of India.

A seller displays rice bags for sale at a store in Danang city, Vietnam March 14, 2018. Photo: Reuters

Vietnam's 5% broken rice prices rose to $495 per metric ton on Thursday from $485-$495 last week.

"Supplies are thin, while domestic demand is on the rise as millions of people in central Vietnam have been affected by a series of floods and landslides," a trader based in An Giang province said.

Vietnam's exports in the first 10 months of this year were forecast to have dropped 4% from a year earlier to 5.29 million metric tons, government data showed.

Shipments from top exporter India slowed as exporters struggled to secure rail wagons and due to congestion at a key port.

"Logistical issues have slowed down exports. The sharp rise in container freight rates have also been hitting traders," B. V. Krishna Rao, president of the Rice Exporters Association said.

Rates for India's 5 percent broken parboiled variety fell to $370-$375 per metric ton from $372-$377 last week.

A depreciation in the rupee has allowed exporters to offer rice at competitive prices, said an exporter based at Kakinada in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Neighboring Bangladesh, which has been grappling with dwindling supplies and a spike in domestic prices amid a worsening pandemic, is set to nearly double rice procurement from an upcoming harvest beginning mid-November, after an earlier drive to shore up supplies fell short of targets.

The government will buy 650,000 metric tons of rain-fed Aman rice variety from farmers, up from about 380,000 metric tons bought last year, the food ministry said.

Meanwhile, Thailand's 5% broken rice prices rose to $452-$480 from $435-$440 a week earlier.

"Domestic demand is higher and some foreign ships have come to pick up orders (exports)," a Bangkok-based rice trader said, adding he expected the rise to be short-lived.