Asian rice prices stay firm on likely purchases from Nigeria, China

Asian rice prices stayed firm this week, supported by larger than expected purchases from Nigeria and China which are likely to continue in the next few months, traders said on Wednesday. Asian producers Thailand and Vietnam are the world's top rice exporters.
Shipping delays of Indian rice to Nigeria prompted buyers there to turn to Thailand, increasing prices of Thai parboiled rice 1 percent to $620 per tonne from last week's $612 a tonne. The gains helped keep the benchmark 100 percent B grade Thai white rice steady at $560 per tonne despite thin demand.
"We expect Thai rice prices to stay firm for a few months as it seems like Nigeria will continue to buy more," said trader Kiattisak Kalayasirivat of Novel Agritrade. "Demand for loading to Nigeria could last for a few months and after that prices could ease again," said another Bangkok-based trader.
Nigeria is Thailand's biggest buyer of parboiled rice, importing some 1 million to 1.5 million tonnes annually, but purchases have tailed off since last September when India resumed exports of the grain. Thai rice prices, however, are unlikely to fall sharply due to a government intervention scheme, traders said, but export volumes are lower because prices are now at uncompetitively high levels.
Thai rice exports in the first quarter of this year stood at 1.2 million tonnes, half the 2.5 million tonnes exported in the same year-ago period largely due to the higher prices. Vietnam appears set to overtake Thailand as the world's top exporter. This week, prices for 5 percent broken rice rose to $440-$445 a tonne, free-on-board Saigon Port, from $425-$430 last week due to strong demand from China. The 25 percent broken rice narrowed to $390-$395 a tonne from $380-$400 a tonne last Wednesday.
"The loading demand for China is strong, pushing up prices, but China's buying pace is not stable," a trader in Ho Chi Minh City said. China could see a three-fold jump in rice imports from Vietnam this year, industry officials said on Monday, as the world's biggest consumer steps up purchases to contain domestic prices.
A government stockpiling scheme is also supporting prices. Rice export companies began last Thursday buying 2 million tonnes of winter-spring paddy until April 30, and will keep the grain off the market until June 15 under the scheme. "Even though the winter-spring crop harvest is peaking, prices still go up thanks to these purchases," said another trader in Ho Chi Minh City.