JavaScript is off. Please enable to view full site.

Asia rice-Indian rates dip, Vietnam prices touch 5-month low

Asia rice-Indian rates dip, Vietnam prices touch 5-month low

Friday, April 16, 2021, 12:07 GMT+7
Asia rice-Indian rates dip, Vietnam prices touch 5-month low
Farmers plant rice on a paddy field during early morning to avoid the heat in Hanoi, Vietnam June 25, 2020. Photo: Reuters

India's rice export rates dipped this week on a weaker rupee, with exporters worried that upcoming shipments could be impacted by a worsening coronavirus situation, while Vietnamese prices fell to a five-month low due to lower domestic crop quality.

Top exporter India's 5 percent broken parboiled variety fell to a near three-month low of $388 to $392 per metric ton, from last week's $390-$395.

The rupee fell to a nine-month trough this week, increasing traders' margin from overseas sales.

"Export demand is good, but shipments could get affected in the coming week if coronavirus cases continue to rise with the current pace," said an exporter based in Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

India reported a record 200,739 COVID-19 cases over the last 24 hours, with business owners flagging disruptions to supply chains from restrictions imposed by states to curb the rapid surge.

In Bangladesh, domestic rice prices went up after it began a week-long lockdown on Wednesday as infections reached around 7,000 cases a day in the last two weeks, from below 300 in February.

"Lockdown is already killing us and the price hike will do the rest," said Mohammad Alam, a rickshaw puller in Dhaka.

Bangladesh, traditionally the world's third-biggest rice producer, has accelerated imports to recover depleted stocks.

Vietnam's 5% broken rice fell to $485-$495 per metric ton on Thursday, its lowest level since Dec. 10 last year, from a range of $495-$500 last week.

"Prices have fallen as the quality of winter-spring rice declines towards the end of the harvest," a trader based in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang said.

Exporters said they are focusing on fulfilling contracts signed earlier and are hesitant to sign new contracts due to high shipping costs.

Markets in Thailand were closed this week on account of the Thai New Year.

Reuters

More

Read more

;

Photos

VIDEOS

‘Taste of Australia’ gala dinner held in Ho Chi Minh City after 2-year hiatus

Taste of Australia Gala Reception has returned to the Park Hyatt Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City's District 1 after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Vietnamese woman gives unconditional love to hundreds of adopted children

Despite her own immense hardship, she has taken in and cared for hundreds of orphans over the past three decades.

Vietnam’s Mekong Delta celebrates spring with ‘hat boi’ performances

The art form is so popular that it attracts people from all ages in the Mekong Delta

Vietnamese youngster travels back in time with clay miniatures

Each work is a scene caught by Dung and kept in his memories through his journeys across Vietnam

Latest news