Vietnam may surpass Thailand in rice exports
	Vietnam needs to find new rice markets to replace China: experts
	Rice exports bring home 2.24 billion USD in nine months

Winter-spring rice is harvested in Tan An commune of Tan Hiep district, the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang

In January and February 2020, about 900,000 tonnes of rice worth 410 million USD were shipped abroad, up 27 percent in volume and 32 percent in value year on year, according to the Vietnam Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

Export prices averaged 478 USD per tonne in January, rising 7 percent from the same period last year. The Philippines was the biggest importer, accounting for 31 percent of total rice shipments. Meanwhile, Mozambique and Angola were among the markets with biggest growth rates.

He noted rice prices are usually adjusted on the quarterly or yearly basis, but they have been changed week by week in the first months of this year, which is a very rare situation, especially when the Mekong Delta – the country’s largest agricultural production hub – is currently in the harvest period of the winter-spring crop.

These positive signs show Vietnam is likely to achieve the rice export target of 6.7 million tonnes worth over 3 billion USD this year.

Explaining the reason for good prices in all segments, Que said as countries opened their markets for rice imports early, businesses have inked big contracts and stepped up purchase of inputs. Besides, China, which previously dominated the African market with about 3 million tonnes of rice annually, has been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, creating a chance for Vietnamese rice in this market.

Strong demand from the Philippines and Malaysia has also helped raise prices of Vietnamese rice, thus helping the grain to narrow the price gap with the Thai counterpart and surpass the Myanmar and Indian rivals.

Que attributed the rosy export signs partly to the agricultural restructuring, which in turn has helped restructure export markets to reduce dependence on certain markets. Moreover, the competitiveness of Vietnamese rice, including that of components in the rice value chain from production, supply, processing and transportation, has been improved.

According to the MARD, the COVID-19 outbreak has little impact on Vietnam’s rice sector, and there are likely more opportunities for export to East Africa. Besides, companies should also gear up to capitalise on advantages generated the FTA between the EU and Vietnam when this deal takes effect.

VN sees rice export opportunity to Egypt Vietnamese enterprises see a chance to export 20,000 tonnes of rice to Egypt, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Import-Export Department.

Rice exports reach 5.2 million tonnes in ten months Vietnam exported 264,000 tonnes of rice with a value of US$136 million in October, thus bringing the total export volume of rice in the first ...

Wide door for Vietnamese rice export It was partly attributable to Vietnam’s winning of rice export contracts, including 141,000 tons in January and 300,000 tons in April to Indonesia, which will ...