Vietnam rice prices jump on possible Indonesia purchases

HANOI, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Vietnamese rice export prices rose around 2 percent in the past two days as exporters stocked up on domestic grain in preparation for possible purchases by Indonesia, traders said.

Indonesia may be seeking 500,000 tonnes of mostly 15 percent broken rice, the traders said, a day after the Indonesian deputy trader minister said his government may need to import rice to shield consumers from higher prices as crop-unfriendly weather strikes the United States and China.

Vietnam's 5 percent broken rice rose around 2 percent to $415-$420 a tonne, free-on-board Saigon Port, on Friday from $407-$410 on Wednesday.

Indonesia was Vietnam's biggest rice buyer in 2011. It ranked fourth in the first half of 2012, farm ministry data shows.

Indonesia took delivery of 296,000 tonnes of Vietnamese rice between January and June, down 58 percent from a year ago, the data showed. (Reporting by Ho Binh Minh; editing by Miral Fahmy)

Source: http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/vietnam-rice-prices-jump-possible-094637473.html