By Daksh Grover

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Prices of rice exported from India fell to a 20-month low this week due to weak demand and ample stocks, while Vietnam's rates edged up as purchases ticked in.

India's 5% broken parboiled rice RI-INBKN5-P1 was quoted at $413-$420 per ton, the lowest since late June 2023 and down from last week's $416-$425.

Indian 5% broken white rice was priced at $395 to $405 per ton this week.

Demand is subdued because buyers are holding sufficient stocks, while exporting countries aggressively compete for market share, said Nitin Gupta, senior vice president of Olam Agri India.

Vietnam's 5% broken rice was offered at $393 per metric ton, according to the Vietnam Food Association, ending an eleven-week streak of falling prices. Last week, traders said prices were $380-$390 per ton.

"Demand is picking up as processors and exporters are increasing their purchases from farmers," a trader based in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang said.

"But supplies are also building up amid the winter-spring harvest."

Vietnam Food Association said in a statement on its website that the Philippines will continue to be Vietnam’s largest rice buyer this year, noting that Vietnam’s rice exports to the market were $2.6 billion last year.

Bangkok-based trader noted that Thai demand is quiet because buyers are holding back while, as prices rose, buyers bought Vietnamese and Indian rice.

Thailand's 5% broken rice RI-THBKN5-P1 held at $415-$420 per tonne compared with $420 last week, traders said.

There was some upwards pressure on prices from currency appreciation after the central bank cut rates, said another trader.

Government support measures have supported prices a little, but customers were only buying what was necessary, he added.

Elsewhere, Bangladesh has resumed direct trade with Pakistan for the first time since its independence in 1971, with the first shipment of 50,000 tonnes of rice leaving Port Qasim under a government-to-government deal, officials said.

(Reporting by Daksh Grover in Bengaluru, Rajendra Jadhav in Mumbai, Vu Khanh in Hanoi, Chayut Setboonsarng in Bangkok and Ruma Paul in Bangladesh; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

((Daksh.Grover@thomsonreuters.com;))