Vietnam’s paddy output is estimated to reach 36.2 million tons this year, representing an on-year rise of around 400,000 tons, according to the Commercial Research Institute.
The increase was mostly contributed by the northern and central regions while the Mekong Delta region, Vietnam’s largest rice growing area, reports a poor paddy harvest because of serious insect and disease infestation during summer-autumn crop.
The Mekong Delta region, which accounts for more than half of the country’s total paddy output and makes up more than 90 per cent of the total rice export volume, reported shortfall of 640,426 tons of paddy this year.
Scarcity of paddy already sent its price rising by 17 per cent from some VND2,400 to VND2,900 per kilo (about US$0.15-0.18) early this month, which traders regard as a record rise in over 30 years.
Rice prices, however, fell by VND150-200 a kilo compared to last week after the government decided to temporarily stop exporting rice to ensure national food security.
Concerning rice exports, the price is forecast to remain high and even keep rising as exporters like Indonesia and India are enduring droughts, causing considerable output reduction.
In addition, African countries have great demand for rice imports as productivity this year on the continent only satisfies around 45 per cent of demand.
In related news, Vietnam, the world’s second largest rice exporter, is reported to have shipped 4.6 million tons of rice in January-November period, raking in US$1.27 billion, down 9.4 per cent in volume and 7.1 per cent in value on-year.
Rice exports are forecast to edge down to 4.8 million tons this year from 5.2 million tons last year and 5 million tons targeted for this year.
Vietnam Economic Times
Vietnamese
