In the period, the country raked in USD 1.1 billion from shipping nearly 2.4 million tons of rice abroad, up 1.1 percent in quantity and 0.2 percent in revenue from the same time last year.
Rice is processed for exports at a factory in Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo for illustration)
The country saw a robust growth in the rice shipment to China - its largest rice consumption market. Nearly 1.1 million tons of rice were sold in the country at USD 488 million, up 33.6 percent in volume and 31 percent in value. The amount accounted for 46 percent of the country’s total rice exports.
Expansion in Vietnamese rice exports was also seen in the Philippines and some European countries like Ukraine, Belgium and France.
However, the country’s rice shipments experienced steep fall from 40-99 percent in Hong Kong (China), Taiwan (China), Indonesia, Poland and Turkey.
The price of Vietnamese export rice has hit a three-year high thanks to the rising import demands and the restricted supply source.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the demand for Vietnam’s 5 percent broken rice, has been rising, hitting USD 390 per ton in the early days of June, against USD 360 per ton to USD 380 per ton in late May.
This is the highest price since December 2014, the ministry said, attributing it to the rising global demand for rice imports, especially in the Asian region.
The export price rise has also caused the paddy price in the domestic market to soar. A ton of 5 percent broken rice in the domestic market stood between VND 7.65 million (USD 340) and VND 7.75 million in early June, up VND 550,000 VND (USD 24) per ton against last month.
The global rice market has been heating up after top importing countries, such as Bangladesh and the Philippines, announced to import roughly 950,000 tons of rice recently.
Experts have forecast that the global rice price will increase by roughly USD 20 per ton in the next three months.
They have advised rice exporting enterprises to not sell the crop in a hurry, hoping that the price of 5 percent broken rice would increase to at least USD 400 per ton.
Source: VNA