Traders said March shipments were low but that several deals sealed earlier for April loading totalled some 430,000 tonnes. Destinations would include Iraq and Africa, they said.

Vietnam's high grade five percent broken was quoted on Thursday at $223-229 a tonne, FOB Saigon Port, unchanged from last week.

Quotations for 25 percent broken grade were put at $195-200 a tonne, against $196-203 a week ago.

One trader said the biggest deal sealed in the past week was 40,000 tonnes of 15 per cent broken grade rice destined for Iraq. He added that this had not affected export prices.

The government has not imposed any quota on rice exports in the second quarter, a measure traders said aimed to boost sluggish exports of the staple. Hanoi slapped a quota of one million tonnes on exports for the first quarter.

Up to 900,000tonnes of rice was shipped during the January-March period, down 29 percent from the same period last year, traders have said.

Twelve vessels were loading more than 94,000 tonnes of rice this week for Africa, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia and Bangladesh. More than 55,000 tonnes was shipped last week.

Traders said weather conditions were good with early rains in the Mekong River Delta so farmers would soon start planting the next crop.