RPT-Asia Rice-India rates gain, other hubs struggle to keep up

(Repeats with no changes to text)
* Vietnam's shipments to EU could get boost from free trade
deal
* Bangladesh unable to clinch deals since lifting export ban
* Strong baht denting demand for Thai rice- traders

By Diptendu Lahiri
BENGALURU, July 4 (Reuters) - Rice export prices in India
inched up this week, helped by a stronger rupee and a slight
uptick in demand, while other hubs in Asia struggled to compete
with rates offered by the top exporter.
India's benchmark 5% broken, parboiled variety
RI-INBKN5-P1 rose to $371-$374 per tonne from last week's
$369-$372.
"The appreciating rupee has been forcing us to raise
prices," said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading firm.
India has raised the price at which it will buy new-season
common rice varieties from local farmers by 3.7%, the farm
minister said on Wednesday. Traders in neighbouring Bangladesh said the country has been
unsuccessful in securing fresh deals since its ban on rice
exports was lifted in May.
"It is nearly impossible for us to make any deal when India
can offer competitive rates," a Dhaka-based trader said.
Bangladesh lifted the longstanding ban with an aim to sell
as much as 1.5 million tonnes to support local farmers following
a drastic drop in domestic prices.
On Thursday, the country signed an agreement with China, one
of nine such deals, as part of which China will provide 2,500
tonnes of rice to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Meanwhile, in Vietnam, rates for the 5% broken rice
RI-VNBKN5-P1 fell to $330-$335 a tonne on Thursday, from
$340-$345 last week, with a trader in Ho Chi Minh city
attributing the dip to a pick-up in the ongoing summer-autumn
harvest.
Another trader said Vietnam's rice shipments to the European
Union could get a boost once the free trade agreement signed
between the country and the EU on Sunday takes effect.
"However, Vietnamese rice exports to the EU will still face
technical barriers and competition from Thailand and Cambodia,"
the trader said, adding the single-currency bloc will limit rice
shipments from Vietnam at 80,000 tonnes a year.
Similarly, prices for second-biggest rice exporter
Thailand's benchmark 5% broken variety RI-THBKN5-P1 narrowed
to $395-$413 a tonne on Thursday, free on board Bangkok (FOB),
from the previous week's $395-$415 range.
"Domestic prices have dropped due to lacklustre demand but
the export prices remain high because of the exchange rate," a
Bangkok-based rice trader said.
A strong local currency was making Thai rice less
competitive in overseas markets, traders said.
"If the baht remains strong then it will be hard for us to
compete with Vietnam and India," another trader in Bangkok said.