OREANDA-NEWS The cost of the reference grade of Thai rice in July dropped to its lowest levels since 2017, amounting to only $ 392 per ton, according to the World Bank. Such a collapse is associated with an oversupply on the global market after a number of key exporters lifted restrictions on sales abroad, Andrei Smirnov, an expert on the stock market at BCS World Investments, told RIA Novosti.

The price of a ton of reference Thai rice with a broken grain content of up to 5% decreased by 6.4% in July to $392, which was the lowest since April 2017.

At the same time, other rice varieties from this country also fell in price. Thus, the cost of a ton with a broken grain content of up to 25% also decreased by 6.4%, reaching the lowest since October 2017, 382 dollars. Crushed Thai white rice is also now at its lowest levels since the middle of autumn of that year - its price has decreased by 4.4% in a month, to $ 376.

Vietnamese rice is also at multi-year lows: in July, the price was $370.6 per ton, having decreased by 1.7% over the month. The last time was more than five years ago, in February 2020.

According to Smirnov, this is due to the fact that a number of key producers, in particular Thailand and India, have lifted their temporary export restrictions, increasing supply on the global market. "There was a recovery in supplies from Vietnam, which overtook Thailand as the second largest exporter: 4.72 million tons in the first half of the year (+3.6%)," he added.

"Hence the global oversupply: global rice production will reach a record 543 million tons this year, which will significantly exceed consumption," the expert said.