Vietnam Rice Prices Flat;Ample Supply Offsets Overseas Demand

Vietnamese rice export prices were mostly unchanged in the
week to Tuesday as increased local supply of rice for export with the end of
the harvest season offset demand from overseas buyers, traders said.    "The
winter-spring rice crop has ended, and farmers have collected a total of 9.1
million tons of paddy rice, which is little changed from last year, resulting
in good supply of exportable rice for this year," said a trader with the
Vietnam Food Association in Ho Chi Minh City.
 
  "But prices were unchanged because exporters have also increased their
delivery to overseas buyers in Cuba, Iran, Indonesia and the Philippines," the
trader added.
 
  "Prices are expected to be little changed in the coming weeks," he added,
noting that farmers in some areas in the Mekong Delta will also have another
harvest season in July, which will help maintain stable prices in the coming
weeks.
 
  In Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta region, traders quoted indicative
prices for high-quality 5% broken rice at $300 a metric ton and 25% broken
grade at $285/ton, unchanged from last week.
 
  In May, Vietnam is estimated to have exported 550,000 tons of rice valued at
$172 million, down 7.4% on year in volume, but up 9.6% in value, government
figures showed.
 
  So far this year, the country has exported 1.95 million tons of rice valued
at $611 million, down 17.2% on year and 4.4%, respectively.