Rice prices in Vietnam have already climbed up by 30 per cent compared with the same period last year due to domestic thin supplies and soaring export demand.
Insect infestation spreading to almost all rice fields in the Mekong Delta region, the largest rice growing area in Vietnam, is blamed for insufficient rice at major wholesales markets across the country that has pushed the prices to much higher levels, local traders said.
On August 14, ordinary rice was offered at around VND4,200-5,000 per kilo in HCM City market, up VND500-2,000 against early last week.
The Vietnamese rice exporters are worrying over pressure for higher prices, which may force them to incur huge losses, as they previously signed contracts with foreign partners at low prices.
Export prices of Vietnamese rice have slightly increased since last week as farmers have completed their harvesting of the summer rice crop. It means that no more rice will be stocked in the coming weeks while the next harvesting season will not start until December.
Rice prices are thus forecast to continue to rise shortly.
In Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta region, domestic rice exporters currently offer high-quality 5 per cent broken rice at $262-265 a ton, up from $260 per ton last week, while 25 per cent broken grade is offered at $242 per ton, also up from $240 per ton from a week earlier.
Vietnam is expected to ship five million tons of rice abroad this year, down from over 5.2 million tons last year. In the first seven months, the country exported 3.3 million tons of rice, totaling $905 million, down 5 per cent on-year in both volume and value.
DJ
Vietnamese
