Export prices of Vietnamese rice may rise again in September as the Philippines plans to import 500,000 tons of rice more, mostly from Vietnam, for the rest of this year, said an information center under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).
Soaring export prices are likely to help boost the domestic rice market, which is now on a downtrend, according to the Information Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agroinfo).
Agroinfo has urged tighter monitoring of rice export prices to help farmers and exporters avoid damages in the face of strong fluctuations in world rice prices.
The global prices of rice will depend much on moves of Thailand as the world’s top rice exporter has a plan to sell its stockpile of up to seven million tons of rice in the coming time, Agroinfo added.
Bumper rice harvests in some major export countries including Vietnam, Thailand, and Pakistan have caused rice price to be falling on the world market.
The Vietnam Food Association (VFA) is expected to convene its members on September 7 to work out a plan to purchase rice from farmers as well as regulate the country’s rice export.
In the first eight months this year, Vietnam had exported over 4.4 million tons of rice, raking in US$2 billion, up 42% in volume and 6.3% in value against the same period last year, the VFA statistics showed.
Asia has remained Vietnam’s main rice importer, buying 62% of the country’s total rice export earnings. It is followed by Africa with over 17% and America, 15%.
In the period, domestic exporters signed contracts to ship over 5.6 million tons of rice abroad, up nearly 67% from a year ago. (Liberated Saigon)
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