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* Prices for Vietnamese variety rise to $350 a tonne
* Thai prices narrow, India rates little changed
* Modest demand from buyers in Africa for Indian variety
By Arpan Varghese
BENGALURU, July 19 (Reuters) - Rice farmers in Bangladesh
grappled with a double whammy of floods and low demand for their
produce this week, while export prices for the grain's
Vietnamese variety rose on fresh interest from Philippines and
Africa.
Meanwhile, rice export prices from India and Thailand were
little changed, amid concerns scant rainfall could hurt crops.
Bangladesh, which has historically relied on imports to meet
shortages, could be faced with a huge loss of paddy as vast
swathes of land have been submerged by floods, agriculture
ministry officials said, who did not want to be named as they
are not authorised to speak to the media.
Flooding has killed at least 153 people in India, Nepal and
Bangladesh and affected millions this year. Bangladesh has also been unable to clinch deals since a ban
on rice exports was lifted in May.
The country's food ministry ordered district administrators
to ensure procurement of paddy directly from farmers to meet a
government target of 400,000 tonnes.
Market insiders, however, said the move would not benefit
most growers in dire need of cash, since they were compelled to
sell their crop to millers or middlemen at much cheaper rates.
In 2017, the country was forced to massively increase
imports to shore up reserves after floods destroyed crops and
pushed local prices to records, but domestic stocks have since
greatly improved.
In Vietnam, rates for 5% broken rice RI-VNBKN5-P1 rose to
$350 a tonne on Thursday from $335-$340 last week.
"Exporters are increasing purchases from local farmers for
deals signed earlier, mostly with customers in the Philippines
and Africa," a Ho Chi Minh City-based trader said.
Also, with the summer-autumn harvest in the Mekong Delta
ending soon, there are concerns of lower supply, another trader
said.
Vietnam's rice exports in the first half of 2019 fell 3.6%
from a year earlier to 3.36 million tonnes, as per customs data.
Meanwhile, prices for the 5% broken parboiled variety
RI-INBKN5-P1 from top exporter India were unchanged around
$374-$377 per tonne, amid modest demand from buyers in Africa.
Many rice-growing states have received lower-than normal
rainfall and it could hurt the summer-sown crop yield, said an
exporter based at Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra
Pradesh.
India's monsoon rains were 20% below average in the week
ending Wednesday, raising concerns over output. Second biggest exporter Thailand saw its benchmark 5% broken
white rice RI-THBKN5-P1 quoted around $401-$402 a tonne on
Thursday, free-on-board Bangkok (FOB), narrowing from $390-$404
last week.
Demand was slow, amid worries that scant rainfall will
hamper crops going into the upcoming off-season harvest, traders
said.
Thai rice exports have also been hit by a strong baht this
year, falling 12% in the first half of 2019.