Rice export prices in India eased from a four-month high this week due to a depreciation of the rupee and sluggish demand, while Thai traders expect prices to drop over the coming weeks as supplies start to arrive from the new season crop amid flat demand.
India's 5 percent broken parboiled variety was quoted around $376-$383 per tonne this week, compared with $378-$384 last week. Export prices in India shot up in the second half of last month after the central state of Chhattisgarh, a leading rice producer, raised the minimum paddy buying price. In neighbouring Bangladesh, rice imports slowed to 106,000 tonnes in July-December due to the imposition of a tax in June, data from the food ministry showed. The country imported a record 3.9 million tonnes of rice in the last financial year that ended in June 2018.
The south Asian country, which emerged as a major importer of the grain in 2017 after floods damaged crops, imposed a 28 percent duty to support its farmers after local production revived.
In Thailand, benchmark 5-percent broken rice was quoted at $380-$400 per tonne, free on board Bangkok, slightly widening from $380-$390 last week as the baht strengthened against the dollar.