Vietnam rice prices fall due to Phl import ban

Vietnam rice export prices continued to drop as the Philippines, its largest market for the grain, extended an import ban by another month, with the possibility of lasting until the end of the year.

- JASPER EMMANUEL ARCALAS

The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) observed that bearishness gripped global Indica rice markets in September as supplies remained ample amid tight demand.

"Prices fell the most in Vietnam, as sentiment was also weighed by the Philippines' import suspension (originally slated to last 60 days, but successively extended by at least 30 days)," FAO said in its monthly rice market brief.

Benchmark five percent broken Vietnam rice averaged $372.1 per metric ton in September, about four percent lower than its average quotation in August of $389 per MT, based on FAO data. On an annual basis, Vietnam rice price fell by 32 percent from last year's $546.5 per MT.

FAO data showed that the price of five percent broken Vietnam rice from January to September averaged $389.3 per MT, dropping by 32 percent year-on-year.