Rice export prices plunge to 18-month low

By Thi Ha August 26, 2021 | 09:40 pm PT

Farmers in Nga Nam town in the southern province of Soc Trang harvest the winter-spring rice crop. Photo by VnExpress/Nguyet Nhi

Export prices of Vietnamese 5-percent broken rice have fallen to $385 per ton, the lowest in the last 18 months, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said.

Traders said the price decrease has been due to low global demand.

Tan Phat Import-Export Commercial One-Member Limited Company in the southern province of Dong Thap has been reluctant to sign new export contracts since logistics costs have increased by VND200,000 ($8.77) per ton of rice.

It is also suffering from labor shortages. Furloughs and resignations mean its workforce has shrunk from 160 to just over 20.

Trung An Hi-tech Farming Joint Stock Company in Can Tho had a contract to export rice to South Korea in mid-August, but had to apologize to its partner for delayed shipments as southern localities continued to mandate social distancing.

Hanoi, HCMC and many other places have month-long social distancing requirements to contain the fourth outbreak that began in April and has so far infected more than 388,000 people.

Vietnam exported nearly 3.6 million tons of rice worth over $1.9 billion in the first seven months of this year, posting respective year-on-year decreases of 10.6 percent and 0.6 percent, according to the General Statistics Office.