Vietnam has sufficient rice to reach its export target of five million tons of rice this year, gaining US$1.45 billion, down 200,000 tons on-year in volume but equal to last year in terms of value thanks to the soaring export prices, according to the Ministry of Trade.
The price of rice exports has risen in the last six months, with 5 per cent broken rice climbing to US$270 a ton and 25 per cent broken rice going to US$250-255 a ton.
Domestic rice exporters had already shipped 2.93 million tons of rice abroad in the first half of this year, earning export turnover of US$796 million, an increase of 7.8 per cent and 4.2 per cent, respectively, compared with the same period last year.
An additional 600,000 tons of rice are scheduled to be shipped abroad by the end of this month as local enterprises currently have sufficient rice in stock, said Truong Thi Nguyet, General Secretary of Vietnam Food Association (Vietfood).
As many as 800,000 tons of rice are currently being left in stock by the Vietnamese enterprises, Nguyet said.
The Vietfood forecasts that in case there are no more unexpected rains, the country's total rice output will likely reach 38-39 million tons this year, up 15.2-18.2 per cent over last year. With such output, Vietnam will completely be able to supply five million tons of rice for the world.
According to the association, rice exporters should look to Asian and African countries where demand is expected to rise because of inclement weather.
The Philippines has signed contract to purchase an additional 100,000 tons of rice from Vietnam to ensure its food balance, bring the total Vietnamese rice imports to 1.6 million tons since the beginning of this year.
In the coming time, the South Korea will have to import more rice to open its market upon the request of WTO.
Meanwhile, African countries bought small amounts of rice in May and June, but are expected to pick up large volumes from this month onwards, she said.
Experts have called on domestic enterprises to restrain its rice export volume to just 4.8 million tons by the end of September. Depending on market changes late this year, Vietnamese enterprises will have suitable export plan for higher earnings, Nguyet said.
Nguyet also added that domestic rice processors and farmers should improve quality to raise the competitiveness of Vietnamese food on the global market.
Vietfood said it planned to promote high quality rice exports to traditional markets, including Japan, the EU, Indonesia and the Philippines as well as new markets in Iraq, Iran, Korea and Africa.
Last year, Vietnam exported 5.2 million tons of rice, earning almost US$1.4 billion in export revenue, the highest in terms of output and value since the country began exporting rice 17 years ago.
Vietnam Agriculture
Vietnamese
