Rice exporters benefit from rising prices

In the first six months of the year, rice exports reached 4.27 million tonnes worth $2.3 billion, up 22.2% in volume and 34.7% in value over the same period last year.

The Philippines remained the largest rice importer of Vietnam, followed by China. Indonesia has just opened a bid package for 300,000 tonnes of rice which not only boosts the export market for Vietnam but also pushes up rice prices.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the export prices of rice have been continuously revised up since mid-July. Only in the first two trading sessions of the week, Vietnam’s export rice prices had two consecutive upward adjustments with an increase of $15 per tonne.

Specifically, on July 19, the country’s 5% broken rice was offered at $528 per tonne and Vietnam’s 25% broken rice price was $508 per tonne, about $20 higher compared to those at the beginning of the month.

Hoang Thi Van, an economist at the Institute of Economics and Finance, said that the amounts of rice exported by India, Pakistan and Thailand this year may continue to be limited due to the drought caused by El Nino phenomenon. It is expected that Vietnam’s rice exports this year may continue to exceed 7 million tonnes.