Asian rice trade was bleak last week because of the New Year holiday market

Indian export rice prices rose slightly this week due to a stronger rupee and more local rice prices, while trade remained thin at export centers by the festive season.

According to Reuters , the price of 5% broken parboiled rice was recorded at 362 - 366 USD / ton, up from 360 - 365 USD / ton compared to the previous week.

Prices rose slightly because of the strong rupee, reducing exporters' profits from international sales, and still weak demand, an exporter based in Kakinada, southern Andhra Pradesh state.

Last year, the New Delhi government raised the price of rice by 3.7% to 1,815 rupees per 100 kg for the 2019-2020 crop.

In Vietnam, 5% broken rice price reached 360 USD / tonne on 2/1, a slight change from last week's price of 355 - 360 USD / ton.

"The trading volume is very thin at the moment because the stocks are low and many exporters are still on holiday," said a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City.

He also added that farmers in the country's largest rice growing region, the Mekong Delta, are preparing land for the main crop - the winter-spring crop, which is forecast to rise to unprecedented heights by the end of February. .

According to another trader, there was no new agreement in the past two weeks, in part because some companies had to fulfill their previously signed contracts.

Preliminary export data indicates that more than 100,000 tons of rice are being loaded at the port of Ho Chi Minh City between January 1 - January 23, with most of the rice being shipped to West Africa, Iraq and South Korea.

Vietnam's rice exports in 2019 are forecast to increase by 2.5% from a year ago to 6,259 million tons, according to official data released last week.

In Bangladesh, meanwhile, the crop could be affected by a protracted chill, an Agriculture Ministry official said.

Two cold winds swept across the country of South Asia in the past two weeks and one more is expected to arrive in a few days.

The Thai rice market has closed for nearly a week to welcome the new year.

Source: https://vietnambiz.vn/thuong-mai-gao-chau-a-am-dam-tuan-qua-vi-thi-truong-nghi-don-nam-moi-20200103143750776.htm