Asian rice prices were little changed
this week, with export demand sluggish and Thai mills on an extended
holiday, traders said on Thursday.
Nigeria, the largest importer of Thai
rice last year, taking around 1.24 million tonnes, data from the rice
exporters’ association showed. But the UN Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) expect Nigeria’s rice imports to drop by 100,000
metric tonnes (mt) this year its rice market monitor report released
this month.
Based on industry estimates, Nigeria’s
annual rice consumption requirement is 5 million metric tonnes (mmt),
while domestic supply is estimated to be 3 million mmt annually.
This would be a direct consequence of
the FGN’s import substitution policy which has recorded successes not
just in rice, but also sugar and wheat
Thai exporters are waiting for clarity on rice shipments from Nigeria’s president-elect Muhammadu Buhari, the official said.
“Thai and Vietnamese rice prices are
currently in a similar situation,” an official at the Thai rice
exporters’ association said declining to be named. “Although prices have
come down, exports have not really picked up. Demand is weak from
foreign countries and many factors are contributing.”
Demand is expected to pick up in the
coming weeks as Islamic nations start buying for the Muslim fasting
month of Ramadan, which starts around June 17, a Bangkok-based trader
said.
“Especially in the Middle East, they
will start buying rice soon to prepare for Ramadan,” the trader said.
“But once it is Ramadan, the cost of making shipments rises as well.”
Thailand had a public holiday from April
13-15 and some rice mills are shut for the rest of the week, which
further subdued demand, a Bangkok-based trader said.
Thailand’s benchmark 5-percent broken
rice was quoted at $396 per tonne free-on-board on Thursday, against
last Thursday’s price of $395 a tonne.
The Thai government has announced it would delay further sales of rice from its stockpiles until the market gets stronger.
Prices on Vietnam’s export market were
stable after purchases under a government-backed stockpiling plan ended
on Wednesday, traders said.
Vietnam’s 5-percent broken rice prices stood unchanged from last week at $365-$370 a tonne, free-on-board Saigon Port.
“There are only a few loading activities for contracts signed earlier,” a trader in Ho Chi Minh City said.
Vietnam exported 1.14 million tonnes
rice in the first quarter of 2015, down 18.8 percent from a year
earlier, the Finance Ministry-run Vietnam Customs said.
China, Vietnam’s largest rice buyer, has
not stepped up its purchases, although its annual import demand is
forecast to rise 5.2 percent to 3.2 million tonnes in 2015, according to
the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.
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