Vietnam will raise by around 2 percent the export floor price for its common rice grade, 25 percent broken rice, to $490 a tonne, the Vietnam Food Association said. But it will cut the minimum export price for the 5 percent broken rice grade to $520 a tonne, free-on-board basis, from $540 in place since December 3, the association said in a statement seen on Friday.
The new floors will be in place from December 27 for shipment in January and February, 2011, the industry body said. The lower floor price for 5 percent broken rice is being implemented after traders in Vietnam said they could not compete with Thai exporters who lowered their 5 percent broken rice price floor to $525 a tonne, free-on-board, from $545 a week ago. The lower floor would also be in line with a downward trend in market rice prices in Thailand, the world's largest exporter of the grain, where prices were expected to further soften due to a speeding harvest.