11:24:38 AM | 23/10/2007
Vietnam won a deal to export 21,000 tons of long ordinary rice to Japan, the fourth one this year, bringing the total volume to 60,050 tons to the foreign country, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said recently.
Vietnam will ship the volume at ¥ 62,949 ($547.38) a ton at a bidding session launched in Japan October 12, the ministry said. Other winners including Thailand and the U.S. will export rice to Japan at the same price.
Trade experts said that the new deal with bigger export volume showed Vietnamese rice’s increasing competitiveness.
Japan has become a major market for Vietnamese rice exports, since the country won its first contract in 2002.
Vietnam exported 80,000 tons of rice to Japan in 2004, 120,000 tons in 2005, 130,000 tons last year and it is expected to be between 150,000 and 170,000 tons this year.
The Vietnamese government has recently reduced its rice export reserve to 4.5 million tons to ensure national food security.
In the first nine months, Vietnam shipped 3.975 million tons of rice worth $1.264 billion, down 1.5 per cent on year in volume but up 14.9 per cent in value. (The People, Pioneer)
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