High demands push Vietnamese rice"s prices up: Business Recorder

Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

Vietnam’s rice export prices hit a more than nine-year high this week as fresh orders trickled in, while rates for the Indian variety held near a one-month peak on healthy demand from buyers in other Asian countries and Africa, according to an article published on Pakistan’s news website Business Recorder.

The article noted that Vietnam’s 5 percent broken rice prices rose to 515-520 USD per tonne on March 25, their highest since December 2011, from 510-515 USD in the previous week.

“Demand is picking up and we’re seeing more ships docking at Ho Chi Minh City port for rice loading,” a trader was quoted as saying, adding that: “Prices are expected to stay high as global demand for the grain is still strong amid the coronavirus pandemic.”

Traders said on March 24 that the Vietnam Southern Food Corp had won a contract to export 50,000 tonnes of 5 percent broken rice to Bangladesh, which is traditionally the world’s third-biggest rice producer but has turned to imports after repeated floods.

A food ministry official in Bangladesh said the country had approved the purchase of 100,000 tonnes of rice, 50,000 tonnes each from India and Vietnam.

In India, the top rice exporter, prices for the 5 percent broken parboiled variety were unchanged at their highest since mid-February, at 398-403 USD per tone, it said.

Thailand’s benchmark 5 percent broken rice was offered at 500-518 USD a tonne, versus 505-513 USD last week. Some traders attributed the price change to a fluctuation in the exchange rate. The baht has dipped 2.9 percent versus the US dollar since the start of the month./.