Filipino importers delay purchases of 350,000 tonnes of Vietnamese rice

The media revealed that rice prices in major exporting countries have dropped to lowest level over the past two years, after India- the biggest supplier of the grain- eased restrictions on exports last year following a bumper harvest.

Reuters quoted one Singapore-based senior executive at an international grain trading company as saying that there has been a big drop in Vietnamese rice prices in the last few weeks and now buyers are not willing to take the expensive rice.

The world's largest multimedia news provider also shared that rice importers had signed deals at around US$620 per tonne, free on board, for Vietnamese fragrant rice late last year but now the price has dropped to around US$500 per tonne.

"This is happening just before the new harvest starts in Vietnam," the second trading source at an international rice trading firm in Bangkok told Reuters.

"It is big jolt to Vietnamese exporters as some of these deals could turn into defaults”, it noted.

Vietnam is currently the world’s third-largest rice exporter, just behind India and Thailand.

Singapore-based trader shared with Reuters that bumper rice harvests in Vietnam will provide additional stock for international markets.

"The crop is looking good, it bigger than last year. Rice prices are likely to face more pressure," it stressed.

According to the media, earlier this week, the Philippines, declared a food security emergency to bring down the cost of rice. Rice prices in the country remain high despite lower global prices and a reduction in rice import tariffs last year.

Indian prices this week hit their lowest since June 2023 while Vietnamese prices have slid to the weakest since September 2022.

In the first half of January, the export price of 5% broken Vietnamese rice fell to US$413per tonne, 25% broken rice to US$387 per tonne, and broken rice to US$330 per tonne.