Domestic prices in Vietnam's Mekong Delta provinces for the 5 percent broken grade were steady at about 6,800 dong per kg, or $388 a tonne, and the 25 percent grade stood at 6,050 dong a kg or $345 a tonne, according to the Vietnam Food Association.

Vietnam raised the floor price for exports of its top-quality 5 percent broken rice by 4.5 percent to $460 a tonne, the Vietnam Food Association said last week. [ID:nHAN504300]

"I think Vietnam will be selling rice for the whole of the first half, as it is busy loading for orders that were sealed early in the year," one trader said.

The floor for 25 percent broken rice was also raised by 2.6 percent to $400 per tonne, on a free-on-board basis, it said.

Vietnam, the second biggest rice exporter after Thailand, has already contracted to sell 3.65 million tonnes of rice, or around 73 percent of its 2009 annual target of up to 5 million tonnes, according to a state-run newspaper.

Some 1.5 million tonnes of that is for the Philippines under a deal that will effectively fill Manila's import needs for 2009.

"Vietnam's exports could reach its target of 5 million tonnes easily," a Bangkok-based trader said.

However, the authorities have now ruled out the registration of new export contracts for shipments until the end of June. It still allows deals with loading in the third quarter ending September. [ID:nHAN430938] Vietnamese rice exporters planned to ship 3.4 million tonnes of the grain in the first six months of the year, a jump of 40 percent from the same period last year, state media said on Wednesday, quoting relevant ministries.

The ministries had agreed to ask exporters to ship about 800,000 tonnes in March, compared with about 400,000 tonnes in the same month last year, state media reported.

In contrast, Thailand struggled to sell as its prices were around $100 per tonne higher than Vietnam's, traders said.

Thai rice exports in February dropped by 40 percent to 634,116 tonnes from 1.04 million tonnes last year, according to Commerce Ministry data.

The lack of demand pushed the price of Thai 100 percent B grade white rice <RI-THWHB-P1> down to $600 per tonne this week from $610 last week, exporters said.

"Despite Vietnam's ban on new rice contracts, there's no fresh demand for Thai rice as most buyers are well stocked and they are in no rush to buy," one exporter said. (Additional reporting by Nguyen Nhat Lam in Hanoi.

(Source: Reuters)