Indian rice prices at eight-month peak; Thai rates fall after rains

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 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 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 were unavailable for the fourth week in a row even as the government partially lifted its ban on rice exports.