Asia Rice-Thai prices dip as demand flows to India, Vietnam

* Thai prices fall to over 1-month low, but still most
expensive
* Robust demand pushes Indian rates to more than 9-month
peak
* Vietnamese rates rise to $450-$460 a tonne on low supplies

By Nakul Iyer
BENGALURU, May 14 (Reuters) - Thai rice export prices fell
this week as the drought-hit country saw fresh supplies entering
the market while also facing stiff competition from cheaper
Indian and Vietnamese offers.
Thailand's benchmark 5% broken rice RI-THBKN5-P1 prices
were quoted at $480-$485 a tonne, their lowest since March 26
and down from $515–$546 last week.
"We're beginning to see new supply entering the market this
month and forecasts for rain have eased concerns over supply
generally," a Bangkok-based rice trader said.
One of the worst droughts in decades put a strain on
supplies, causing prices to soar to a seven-year high in April.
"Demand remains flat but there are hopes that buyers in
places like the Philippines may be interested in Thai rice as
prices dropped, although competition from Vietnam is very
strong," another rice trader in Bangkok said.
Prices for top-exporter India's 5% broken parboiled variety
RI-INBKN5-P1 edged to their highest since early August at
$380-$385 per tonne this week.
Demand is better than last year as Indian rice is offered at
a discount compared with exports from Thailand and Vietnam, said
B.V. Krishna Rao, president of the Rice Exporters Association.
The availability of trucks and workers, which limited
exports in April, has improved, Rao added.
Exports are also getting support from a weaker rupee
INR=D4 , raising exporters' margin from overseas sales,
exporters said.
Meanwhile, low supplies pushed rates for 5% broken rice
RI-VNBKN5-P1 from Vietnam to a near one-year high of
$450-$460.
"Traders are rushing to fulfil contracts signed before the
export ban (introduced in March), while the government is also
buying rice from farmers for its national stockpiling program,"
a trader based in Vietnam's Mekong Delta province of An Giang
said.
"Supplies from the upcoming harvest will not increase
sharply as the harvest will take place slowly, lasting more than
two months."
Vietnam fully resumed rice exports from May, after a ban in
March to ensure adequate supplies during the coronavirus
pandemic. Preliminary shipping data showed nearly 150,000 tonnes of
rice is to be loaded at Ho Chi Minh City port between May 2 and
May 17, with most of it heading to the Philippines.
Elsewhere, Bangladesh will procure an additional 200,000
tonnes of paddy during the current harvest season to secure
supplies for relief operations, a food ministry official said,
amid the coronavirus pandemic which has infected 18,863 people
and killed 283 in the country as of Thursday.