BENGALURU, India: Bangladesh scrapped a plan to import Thai rice, citing delays in finalising a deal, as rice prices in India and Thailand fell this week, pressured by sluggish overseas demand. Bangladesh, which has emerged as a major importer of rice since 2017 after floods damaged its crops, scrapped a plan to import 150,000 tonnes of rice from Thailand, agreed at $465 a tonne in October. In India, prices for 5% broken parboiled rice fell by $12 to $420-$424 a tonne, having touched their highest since September 2011 a couple of weeks earlier. Meanwhile, Thailand's benchmark 5% broken rice rates fell to $400-$419 a tonne, free on board (FOB) Bangkok, compared with $420-$430 last week. "Many exporters are waiting on big markets like Indonesia, Philippines, Iran and China, but so far there are no fresh bids," one Bangkok-based rice trader said.

Source: Bangkok Post February 15, 2018 13:30 UTC