Thai and Indian rice prices are at their lowest in two years, while Vietnamese rice prices have increased for the second consecutive week.

Thai rice export prices fell to their lowest in more than two years last week on weak demand and rising supplies, while Indian export prices held steady near a 21-month low. Vietnamese rice prices rose last week.

Rice export prices increase for second consecutive week

Accordingly, Thailand's 5% broken rice fell to $405/ton, hitting its lowest level since late October 2022 compared to $405-408/ton a week earlier.

Thai traders said the market is quiet and demand may be low in the next 2-3 months, amid excess supply and increased competition in the international market as Indian and Thai rice prices are low, forcing customers to buy only when necessary.

India’s 5% broken parboiled variety was quoted at $403-$410 a tonne, unchanged from last week. Pakistan and Vietnam are pushing up white rice sales, weighing on Indian parboiled prices. Earlier this month, India resumed exports of 100% broken rice after banning it from September 2022.

According to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), on March 24, rice export prices continued to be stable. Specifically, 5% broken rice was at 397 USD/ton; 25% broken rice was at 369 USD/ton; 100% broken rice remained at 313 USD/ton. Last week, Vietnam's 5% broken rice was offered at 394 USD/ton, also up from 392 USD/ton the week before, according to the Vietnam Food Association.

The Minister of Industry and Trade has directed relevant agencies to accelerate promotion efforts in the Philippines and China while actively seeking new markets. In addition, it is necessary to closely monitor the global rice market situation as well as that of competitors to promptly come up with appropriate solutions.

Meanwhile, domestic rice prices in Bangladesh remain high despite efforts to increase imports and stockpiles. While the Bangladeshi government is buying rice from Vietnam, Myanmar and Pakistan through government-to-government deals and international tenders, private traders in Bangladesh have largely halted trading due to concerns over large fluctuations in rice prices in the market.

With the Government's strong and timely guidance, Vietnam's rice export prices have increased again after a period of continuous sharp decline. The Philippines, China, Malaysia, Africa... - traditional customers of Vietnamese rice are considering increasing their purchases again. The stable price of Vietnamese rice exports shows that the market is waiting for signals from these major importers.

In the domestic market, rice prices in the Mekong Delta region today remain stable. According to the update from the Department of Agriculture and Environment of An Giang province, raw rice 5451 fluctuates at 8,600 - 8,750 VND/kg; raw rice OM 380 fluctuates at 7,750 - 7,900 VND/kg; raw rice IR 504 fluctuates at 8,100 - 8,200 VND/kg; finished rice OM 380 fluctuates at 8,800 - 9,000 VND/kg; finished rice IR 504 fluctuates at 9,500 - 9,700 VND/kg.

Regarding rice, according to the update from the Department of Agriculture and Environment of An Giang province, the current price of IR 50404 rice (fresh) fluctuates at 5,500 - 5,700 VND/kg; the price of Dai Thom 8 rice (fresh) fluctuates at 6,500 - 6,650 VND/kg; the price of OM 5451 rice (fresh) fluctuates at 5,800 - 6,000 VND/kg; the price of OM 18 rice (fresh) fluctuates at 6,500 - 6,600 VND/kg; the price of OM 380 rice (fresh) fluctuates at 5,200 - 5,400 VND/kg; and Nang Hoa 9 rice is at 6,300 - 6,500 VND/kg.

Promote lending for temporary purchase and storage of rice...

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently maintained its forecast for global rice production in the 2024-2025 crop year at 532.7 million tons, up 10.4 million tons from the previous crop year. Meanwhile, global rice consumption is also forecast to increase sharply by 7.2 million tons to 530.7 million tons.

Global rice trade in 2025 is also not much different from the previous forecast, reaching 58.5 million tons, down 1.44 million tons compared to 2024. India's rice exports are expected to increase sharply again, but other countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, and Pakistan will all decrease.

In the first two months of the year, Vietnam's rice exports reached 1.23 million tons, worth 674.76 million USD, up 17.6% in volume but down 4.9% in value compared to the same period in 2024. Of which, the amount of rice exported to the Philippines, Ivory Coast, Ghana, China, Bangladesh, etc. all increased compared to the same period last year, offsetting the decrease in imports from Indonesia and Malaysia.

Vietnam's rice export price in the first two months of the year decreased by 19.1% compared to the same period last year, down to an average of only 548 USD/ton. However, Vietnam's 5% broken rice export price, after hitting bottom at 389 USD/ton, recovered slightly to 392 USD/ton and as mentioned, is now at 397 USD/ton.

High demand from the Philippines, Africa, China and Bangladesh will support the price of Vietnamese rice to increase. India's resumption of 100% broken rice exports is not expected to have much impact on Vietnam, as broken rice accounts for only a small proportion of our rice exports.

It is known that, immediately after the Prime Minister issued Official Dispatch No. 21 on management to ensure balance of rice supply and demand, requesting the State Bank of Vietnam to direct commercial banks to create favorable conditions for people and businesses to access credit capital with preferential interest rates, meeting enough credit needs for rice purchasing and exporting, the State Bank directed banks to focus on providing capital for businesses purchasing rice in the Winter-Spring crop.

The Mekong Delta is in the winter-spring harvest season, with an expected output of 10.77 million tons. By the end of February, 605,000 hectares of rice had been harvested, with an output of 4.17 million tons, with more than half of the output still waiting to be harvested. Capital resources are now important to ensure the progress of rice purchasing.

Mr. Do Ha Nam - Vice President of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) said: In the context of the Winter-Spring crop entering the harvest season, if there is enough capital to lend for purchasing and temporary storage, it is also a solution to help Vietnam's rice prices not fall sharply, under pressure from the world market. Thereby, increasing the autonomy of exported rice. According to VFA, it is estimated that the amount of money needed to purchase all rice output in the Mekong Delta will be a large number.

Outstanding loans in the Mekong Delta, according to the State Bank, are estimated at around 1.2 million billion VND. Of which, hundreds of thousands of billion VND are loans for the rice industry. The State Bank has also requested commercial banks to study and consider raising appropriate loan limits and terms, and not to let people and businesses not access capital due to cumbersome procedures...

Source: https://danviet.vn/gao-thai-lan-gao-an-do-dang-co-gia-ban-thap-nhat-2-nam-gia-gao-viet-nam-tang-tuan-thu-2-lien-tiep-20250324160228145.htm