Rice exports forecast to hit record-high $5B this year

There is ample room for Vietnamese rice exports as demand in major rice importers such as the Philippines, Indonesia, China and Africa is huge.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Indonesia imported 2.2 million tonnes of rice in the first five months of 2024 and plans to import an additional of 2.1 million tons from June – December.

Vu Tuan Anh, CEO of rice exporter GLE, shared that Indonesia can import up to 4.3 million tons of rice in 2024 if the country’s crop output falls behind expectation due to drought, flood or pests, which would be an opportunity for Vietnamese rice exporters as Vietnamese rice’s quality is among the highest level in the world.

Besides, there are also good chances to export rice to the Philippines, which imported more than 1.7 million tons of rice from Vietnam in the first six months of this year, and the demand is projected to remain stable in the remaining months of the year, he added.

Data of the Vietnam Customs showed that since the beginning of the year to mid-July, Vietnam shipped more than 4.8 million tonnes of rice, bringing home nearly $3.1 billion. The average rice export price increased 12% compared to the same period last year, reaching $612.3 per tons.

Nguyen Ngoc Nam, Chairman of the Vietnam Food Association affirmed that demand for rice in the world is still enormous with traditional markets such as China, the Philippines, Indonesia being major importers of Vietnamese rice. The association has actively introduced Vietnamese rice to new markets like Africa and the Middle East.