The price of Vietnamese export rice reached USD 465 per ton during the first nine months of 2014, representing a year-on-year increase of 3.8 percent.

According to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), the country shipped over 5 million tons of rice abroad in the period, raking in USD 2.3 billion.

Loading rice for export. Photo: laodong.com.vn

VFA predicted that 2015 will be a tough year for Vietnam’s rice exporters since they will face fierce competition from not only Asian rice exporters but also African exporters.

Until the end of this year, the price for rice will most likely stay at the current level or decrease slightly due to falling demand on the export markets.

Enterprises under the VFA are striving to sell all the rice brought from farmers, while balancing the rice volume for exports in the remaining months of 2014 and early 2015.
Local rice producers hope to export 1.4 million tons of rice during the last quarter of 2014, bringing this year’s total rice export volume to 6.3 million tons.

This year, the cultivation area in the southern region - the country’s key rice producer - encompassed 4.7 million hectares, with an estimated yield of 27.8 million tons, up by 916,000 tons compared to last year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Source: VNA