Export prices for Thai rice rose to a more than three-month peak this week, bolstered by thin supplies and strong demand, while rates for top exporter India remained steady due to lacklustre demand.
Thailand’s 5% broken rice prices continued to climb, reaching $632 to $640 per tonne, compared with $600 a week earlier.
The increase is due to diminishing supplies, said a Bangkok-based trader, adding that there was strong demand from Indonesia and flood-hit Brazil.
The flooding of farmland and towns in southern Brazil has killed people, livestock, crippled infrastructure and is hampering shipping of grains to local processors and the Rio Grande port.
Domestic demand and activity were also bustling and new supply would come in July, said another Bangkok-based trader.
India’s 5% broken parboiled variety was quoted at $531-$539 per tonne this week, unchanged from the last week.
“Indian prices are (more) competitive than other destinations but still demand is not picking up,” said an exporter based in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
Meanwhile, 5% broken rice from Vietnam was offered at $585 to $590 per tonne on Thursday, up from $585 a week ago, traders said.
“Demand remains strong while domestic supplies are running low,” a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City said, adding that the Indonesian state food procurement agency Bulog was seeking to buy more rice.
Traders said supplies would improve from June when the summer-autumn harvest begins.