Rice market quiet on RI deal

Rice market quiet on RI deal

HANOI (Reuters): Vietnam's rice trade has been quiet this week
on firm prices with much interest focused on how the government
would price a deal to sell Indonesia 100,000 tonnes of rice,
traders said yesterday.

"The market is quiet and everyone is paying attention to deals
with Indonesia and Iraq," said one international rice trader in
southern Ho Chi Minh City.

Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has approved the deal to sell
100,000 tons of rice to Indonesia on one-year deferred payment as
well as providing a free shipment of 10,000 tonnes.

Five percent broken grade was being quoted at around $310 per
ton, free-on-board (FOB) Saigon Port, unchanged from last week.

Lower grades of 10 and 25 percent broken were quoted at $300-
$305 and $260-$262 a ton, respectively.

The official at the Southern Food Company, said shipment on
the Indonesia deal would be from August to October, with the bulk
probably comprising 25 percent broken grade rice from Vietnam's
current summer-autumn crop.