Vietnam Predicts 2009 Rice Export Rev Lower at US$2.35B

Vietnam will likely see earnings from rice exports fall 12.9 per cent on-year to US$2.35 billion despite a rise of 30.4 per cent in volume to six million tons.

 

The situation is mostly attributed to falling export prices of Vietnamese rice, the paper said, predicting Vietnamese rice would average only US$392 per ton this year, compared to a high of US$569.23 per ton last year.

 

In the first six months, domestic companies estimated selling 3.8 million tons of rice abroad, earning US$1.82 billion, up 56.2 per cent in volume and 24.1 per cent in value on-year.

 

Soaring demands of major importers and a strong increase in the number of new export contracts have supported ambitions to export six million tons of rice this year, up 200,000 tons against figures previously expected by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

 

The signing of new export contracts has made a positive impact on the domestic rice market. The price of high-quality rice from the early summer-autumn crop in the Mekong River Delta now fluctuates between VND4,200-4,300 per kilogram.

 

At present, about 2 million tons of summer-autumn rice will be reserved for export. With an additional 300,000 tons of high-quality rice from the winter-spring crop in stock, Vietnam is expected to fulfill the signed export contracts this year. (Vietnam Agriculture)