Russia becomes Vietnam’s top wheat supplier

Russia has become Vietnam’s top wheat supplier, selling 1.7 million metric tons of wheat to Vietnam between July 2017 and April 2018.

The Bloomberg news agency reported that Russia has benefited from lower production costs and a good harvest, while another report by the United States Department of Agriculture noted that Australia, which has been exporting wheat to Vietnam for years, was hit by a drought that saw its export of the grain drop by a third in 2017-2018 season.

Tom Basnett, manager at Market Check marketing company in Australia, told Bloomberg that Australia typically exported 10 percent of its wheat to Vietnam, but the country has been loosing market share in recent years to wheat from Russia.

However, Russian traders are worried that Vietnam could stop importing their wheat after weed seeds were spotted in shipment. Specialists were sent to Vietnam to discuss the issue.

According to a report by the UkrAgroConsult Agency, besides Vietnam, Russia has also increased its share of the world market by supplying wheat to Korea, Kenya, Peru, Philippines, Malaysia and several other countries.