MUMBAI/HANOI/ BANGKOK/DHAKA: Vietnamese rice export prices rose this week driven by robust demand, while rates for the grain shipped out from top exporter India eased on a plunge in the rupee and improved supplies.

Vietnam’s 5% broken rice was offered at $425-$430 per tonne on Thursday, versus $420-$425 a week ago.

“Demand is picking up, and we expect the Philippines to import more to compensate for the shortfall caused by the recent storms,” a trader based in Ho Chi Minh City said. The Philippines is Vietnam’s largest rice buyer.

Meanwhile, domestic supplies are running low as the summer-autumn harvest is ending, traders said. Export prices could increase further over coming weeks on tight supplies due to adverse weather in several rice growing countries and on rising demand, particularly from China, they added.

Prices for India’s 5% broken parboiled variety fell to $374-$382 per tonne from $376-$384 last week, amid a dive in the rupee to a record low, increasing traders’ margins from overseas sales.

“Government’s rice distribution has increased supplies in the market. For time being, the market is keeping aside concerns over the new season’s crop,” said an exporter based at Kakinada in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.