According to oryza.com, Thailand’s 100% B rice (equivalent to 5% broken rice of Vietnam) has been offered at US$400-410 per ton, rising by US$25 a ton against the end of June. Meanwhile, India’s 5% broken rice has gone up by around US$10 to US$385-395 per ton.
Thailand and India have adjusted up rice export prices as poor weather conditions have made inroads into their rice output.
Thailand has also revised down this year’s rice export forecast from 10 million to 9.5 million tons given concerns that higher prices would push importers to get closer to its rivals.
Meanwhile, rice prices in Vietnam have kept falling on dreary trading.
According to some rice exporters in the Mekong Delta, 5% broken rice has been sold at US$345-355 a ton, down by US$5 against late June.
Lam Anh Tuan, director of Thinh Phat Co. in Ben Tre Province, said rice exports to China through unofficial channels have been tightened since early this year, thereby sending rice prices down. In previous years, local enterprises shipped much rice to the northern neighbor.
Regarding official channels, Tuan said as importers have been aware that Vietnam has entered the peak harvest season while enterprises are facing capital shortages, they have asked for price cuts; otherwise, they would postpone purchases.
Ngo Ngoc Yen, director of Yen Ngoc rice company in HCMC, said prices of unprocessed IR 50404 rice in Tien Giang Province are VND5,900-6,200 per kilo depending on quality, dropping by VND50 a kilo versus a fortnight ago.
Statistics of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) showed its member enterprises exported nearly 85,000 tons of rice with a combined free-on-board (FOB) value of over US$34 million in the first nine days of July. Between January 1 and July 9, they shipped nearly 2.8 million tons worth US$1.2 billion.
