Asian rice prices have fallen in the past week because of thin demand from traditional importers, but could pick up next month as Vietnam and the Philippines are due to finalize a big contract, traders said.
Last week a Vietnamese rice industry official said Vietnam may have struck an initial deal to sell 400,000 tons to the Philippines.
A Vietnamese trader with a foreign firm in Ho Chi Minh City said: ''A contract with the Philippines will revitalize the rice market and prices can pick up.''
An exporter said the rice deal with Manila could total 500,000 tons for shipment late this year, and it may have been struck at a price of $460 a tonne, cost and freight.
''But Vietnam has yet to finalize its free-on-board price, so they are still talking and the contract could be signed this week or next at a good price,'' he said.
January to August rice shipments from Vietnam, the world's second-largest exporter after Thailand, surged 43 percent from the same period last year to an estimated 4.7 million tonnes, the government said on Monday.
The total was pushed up by another big sale to the Philippines, totalling 1.5 million tons early this year.
Exporters said rice demand in African countries was constant and some buyers were in the market looking for small volumes but limited bank credit had restricted purchases.
''Buyers in Europe are on holiday, Middle Eastern countries have Ramadan, so demand is very thin,'' a second trader in Ho Chi Minh City said, referring to the Islamic holy month, when Muslims worldwide fast during daylight hours.
Prices were also lower in Thailand. Apart from thin demand, they cited the absence of government buying as a factor.
The last government intervention scheme ended on July 31, at which point stocks stood at a record 7.0 million tons.
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