Vietnamese rice now more pricey than Thailand’s

By Anh Minh August 11, 2020 | 11:11 pm PT

Soldiers help farmers harvest rice in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue in May 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Vo Thanh.

With the Thai baht weakening, Vietnamese rice is fetching 3 percent higher prices in global markets than varieties from Thailand.

Vietnam’s 5-percent broken rice has been priced at $468-472 per ton since August 8, $15 more than its Thai rivals. The prices have risen by 6.8 percent since the beginning of this month.

Vietnam was the third largest rice exporter last year behind India and Thailand.

In the first seven months of this year it exported $1.9 billion worth of grains, up 10.9 percent year-on-year, with the Philippines being the top buyer, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.