The company also sealed deals to export 50,000 tons of wheat to Bangladesh at $280 per ton free on board (fob), said one of the trade sources that was directly involved with the deal.

Both rice and wheat export deals were confirmed by three other traders.

“For exports of 100,000 tons of non-basmati rice to Nigeria, our average price is $470 per ton fob, as it includes various categories,” the first source said.

Last Thursday, Food Minister K.V. Thomas said India, the world’s second-biggest producer of rice and wheat, would allow private traders to export 2 million tons each of common grades of rice and wheat without conditions.

In July, New Delhi said it would allow one million tons of rice exports and set a floor price of $400 per ton for the sales, but a court ordered their suspension while it considers complaints over the way these quotas were allocated.

The complaints are now likely to be dropped, said Vijay Setia, head of the All India Rice Exporters Association, which brought them.

It is not yet clear whether these exports would be included in the government’s latest 2 million tons cap.

Traders said supplies from top exporters Thailand and Vietnam could cost about $540-$600 per ton fob depending on quality and type of rice.

On Wednesday in weekly pricing, benchmark Thai prices for 100 percent B grade white rice touched $640 per ton, the highest rate in nearly three years, helped by rising demand from Nigeria, usually the world’s second-largest importer.

“We were expecting a flurry of deals, as Indian prices are extremely competitive. It will not take long before traders snap deals for the entire 2 million tons permitted by the government,” said Mohan Narang, director at trading firm K. S. Commodities.

Thailand, the world’s biggest rice exporter, aims to export a record of more than 10 million tons of rice this year, up from 9 million tons in the previous year.

The No. 2 supplier, Vietnam, plans to export seven million tons of the grain this year, breaking its shipment record set in 2010, a state-run newspaper said.

“There is a good deal of demand from Africa, southeast Asia and, to an extent, from the Middle East. And the best part is our prices are very, very attractive against the main suppliers,” said Setia.

India’s government buys rice at about $235 per ton from farmers, making export levels attractive for the industry.

Wheat exports, however, may be slow as Indian prices are currently uncompetitive with rivals such as Russia.

Last week, Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer, ought 300,000 tons from Russia and Kazakhstan at $289.70 per toe to $291.50 per ton fob.

Indian companies offered wheat at around $300 per ton in July when the government first said it would permit exports but supplies from the Black Sea were at around $244 per ton then.

India banned exports of common grades of rice in 2008, joining the protectionist measures of other leading producers amid a global shortage.

Since then consecutive bumper harvests have swelled government stocks of wheat and rice, allowing New Delhi to answer calls from traders to let them take advantage of high international prices.

Rice stocks at government warehouses stood at 25.27 million tons against a target of 9.8 million tons on Aug. 1. Wheat stocks were at 35.87 million tons, substantially higher than a target of 17.1 million tones set for the July-September quarter.