Rice exports surge to new record

The country earned US$3.66 billion from exporting rice in the period, up 40.4% year-on-year, the ministry has reported.

The result was attributed to the increasing price of Vietnamese export rice, and the decreasing rice supplies in many markets during the reviewed period, it said.

Vietnam’s average price of exported rice in the first three quarters reached $553 per tonne, a 14% increase over the same period in the previous year.

The Philippines was the largest buyer of Vietnamese rice products in the first eight months, accounting for 40.3% of the total rice export. China and Indonesia ranked second and third, accounting for 13.5% and 12.4%, respectively.

According to Vice General Director of the Export-Import Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade Tran Thanh Hai, the price of exported rice is expected to remain high until the end of this year due to the continued demand for rice imports in major consuming markets such as the Philippines, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Africa. This is coupled with the limited supply of rice from leading rice exporters like India and Pakistan.

President of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) Nguyen Ngoc Nam stressed that there is ample room for rice exports to grow, especially as the Philippines needs to import an additional 1.1 million tonnes, while Indonesia plans to buy 2.3 million tonnes by the end of the year.

China’s demand for rice imports is also forecast to increase in the remaining months of the year, Nam said.

Rice exporters are advised to have appropriate strategies to ensure the ability to meet exports.