Asia Rice-Indian prices at 8-month peak; Thai rates ease after rains

* Vietnam partially lifts its ban on rice exports
* India rates climb to $375-$380 per tonne vs $361-$365
* Thai rates ease to $530-$538 a tonne from $555–$580
* Bangladesh to double allocation of ration cards to 10 mln

By Brijesh Patel
BENGALURU, April 16 (Reuters) - Rice export prices in India
bounced to an eight-month high this week, as traders resumed
signing new contracts after a gap of nearly three weeks, while
rains brought some relief in drought-hit Thailand, easing prices
off a multi-year peak.
Top exporter India's 5 percent broken parboiled variety
RI-INBKN5-P1 was quoted around $375-$380 per tonne this week -
the highest since the first week of August - and significantly
higher than $361-$365 quoted last month.
"There is good demand for Indian rice, but supplies are
limited due to the lockdown," said an exporter based at
Kakinada.
Indian rice traders had stopped signing new export contracts
amid the nationwide lockdown as labour shortages and logistics
disruptions hampered delivery of even existing contracts.
India extended the lockdown until at least May 3 as the
number of coronavirus cases exceeded 12,000.
Neighbouring Bangladesh will double its allocation of ration
cards to 10 million under a subsidised rice sales scheme to help
the poor during its nationwide lockdown.
Domestic prices of rice have recently been driven to
two-year highs as people resorted to panic buying.
Thailand's benchmark 5% broken rice RI-THBKN5-P1 prices
fell to $530-$538 per tonne from last week's $555–$580 - their
highest since April 2013.
Traders said this week's rainfall in Bangkok and some
rice-growing provinces lifted hopes that an ongoing drought,
which started from November last year, may come to an end sooner
than expected.
"When it rained this week, prices dropped slightly," a
Bangkok-based trader said. "We have to see if the rainfall was
only an irregularity, so prices could still swing back."
Expectations of a prolonged drought previously led to a
forecast of lower Thai rice output this year, resulting in
higher prices compared to competitors.
Vietnam's 5% broken rice prices RI-VNBKN5-P1 were
unavailable for the fourth week in a row even as the government
partially lifted its ban on rice exports.
"Though the government has allowed the export of 400,000
tonnes of rice for this month, no new rice export contracts have
been signed because the volume of the contracts signed before
the ban is already higher than the quota," a trader based in Ho
Chi Minh City said.
The country last month banned signing new export contracts
to ensure ample domestic supplies.
"Local rice exporters have been fighting to have a slice in
the 400,000-tonne quota this month, but the way the customs
authorities are handling customs formalities is messy and not
transparent," another trader said.