Vietnam’s rice exports in the first ten months of 2016 reached 4.2 million tons, earning USD 1.9 billion in revenue, a year-on-year decrease of 21.2 percent in volume and 16.9 percent in value.

In October alone, the country earned USD 164 million from shipping 368,000 tons of rice abroad.

China remained the leading importer of Vietnamese rice in the first three quarters of 2016, accounting for 35.4 percent of market share. Vietnam exported 1.35 million tons of rice worth USD 613.8 million to China during the period, down 23 percent in volume and 13.9 percent in value from a year earlier.

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A decline has been seen in rice exports to other markets like Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, the United States, Ivory Coast and Hong Kong.

However, Vietnam’s rice export to Ghana and Indonesia increased strongly. Ghana became Vietnam’s second largest rice importer in the first nine months with 387,000 tons worth USD 189.6 million, up 41.8 percent in volume and 36.2 percent in value compared to the same period last year.

By the end of September, Indonesia spent USD 142.5 million on buying 359,000 tons of rice from Vietnam, a 21.5-fold rise in volume and a 22.5-fold increase in value.

Vietnam’s rice export to Angola increased 4.4-fold and 3.5-fold in volume and value, respectively.

According to the Vietnam Food Association, domestic businesses have a chance to boost rice exports as the Philippines plans to import 293,100 tons of rice from Vietnam to meet food demand during the 2017 between-crop period.

Source: VNA