Rice price today January 8, 2025: What to do to stop the decline in rice prices?

Domestic rice prices

Rice prices today, January 8, in the Mekong Delta region fluctuated slightly with rice, some rice products decreased sharply compared to last weekend.

In many localities today, new rice transactions have stalled due to the continuous fluctuations in rice prices. In Soc Trang, demand is low, many traders have abandoned their deposits. In Bac Lieu, the market is quiet, transactions have stalled, and there are no new buyers.

Long An has limited resources, transactions are stagnant, and prices continue to fall. In Dong Thap, farmers offer reduced prices but there are few buyers. In Soc Trang, transactions are stagnant and there are few buyers.

According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of An Giang province, the domestic price of paddy and rice today decreased slightly in some types. Specifically, the purchase price of fresh Dai Thom 8 and OM18 rice decreased by 200 VND/kg compared to the previous day, down to 7,800 - 8,000 VND/kg. In addition, OM 5451 rice also decreased by 200 VND/kg to 7,600 - 7,800 VND/kg, IR 50404 rice decreased by 100 VND/kg, down to only 7,200 - 7,300 VND/kg.

Similarly, with rice, according to an update from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of An Giang province, raw rice IR 504 fluctuates at 7,500 - 7,600 VND/kg; finished rice IR 504 decreased by 200 VND/kg, fluctuating at 9,800 - 10,100 VND/kg.

Recorded in localities today, the volume is quite good, new transactions have decreased. In Lap Vo - Vam Cong (Dong Thap), transactions are weak, prices have decreased sharply, warehouses are slow to buy, giving low prices for all types. In Sa Dec (Dong Thap), the volume is slow, warehouse prices have decreased slightly for all types.

Sa Dec market canal (Dong Thap), low volume, market rice warehouses buy slowly, prices of all kinds of rice decrease. At An Cu (Cai Be, Tien Giang), volume is sparse, few buyers, prices of all kinds of rice decrease.

At retail markets, rice prices are relatively stable compared to yesterday. Regular rice fluctuates at 16,000 - 17,000 VND/kg. Currently, Nang Nhen rice has the highest listed price of 28,000 VND/kg; fragrant rice is offered at high prices ranging from 20,000 - 22,000 VND/kg; Jasmine rice is 18,000 - 20,000 VND/kg; Nang Hoa rice is 21,500 VND/kg; long-grain fragrant rice is 20,000 - 22,000 VND/kg; Huong Lai rice is 22,000 VND/kg; common white rice is 17,500 VND/kg; Taiwanese fragrant rice is 21,000 VND/kg; Soc rice is 18,500 VND/kg; Soc Thai rice is 21,000 VND/kg; Japanese rice is 22,500 VND/kg.

Regarding by-products, the price of fragrant rice bran in localities decreased by VND200/kg compared to the previous day and was traded at VND7,200 - VND7,400/kg, while the price of dry bran was stable at around VND5,950 - VND6,050/kg.

Export rice price

In the export market, Vietnam's rice export prices today decreased slightly compared to last weekend. According to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), currently 5% standard rice is at 467 USD/ton; 25% broken rice is at 437 USD/ton; 100% broken rice is at 327 USD/ton.

If the price of rice has continuously increased during the last two Tet holidays, farmers have been excited to welcome the new year, this year, on the contrary, the price of rice has continuously decreased. Mr. Nguyen Thanh An, a farmer in Tan Tuyen commune (Tri Ton district, An Giang), said: At present, it is just the beginning of the winter-spring crop, but the price of rice has continuously decreased, only about 7,000 - 7,200 VND/kg. The current price is also about 1,500 VND/kg lower than the winter-spring crop last year.

Mr. Nguyen Vinh Trong, Sales Director of Viet Hung Company Limited (Tien Giang), confirmed: Many of Vietnam's main export rice products such as OM 5451 previously cost 640 - 650 USD/ton, but by the end of 2024 they were only about 560 USD/ton and are currently about 540 USD/ton.

Similarly, DT8 rice was previously priced at 660 - 670 USD/ton, by the end of 2024 it decreased to 570 USD/ton and is currently around 550 USD/ton.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, Director of Phuoc Thanh IV Company Limited, the price of rice has decreased because major markets such as the Philippines, Indonesia, and China have not shown any signs of buying, leading to a lack of buyers. This has forced sellers to reduce prices to increase supply, creating a vicious cycle that further reduces prices.

This vicious cycle is strongly affected by abundant supply from the Indian market after more than a year of export restrictions.

It is worth mentioning that at present, not only is export difficult, but in the domestic market, consumption has also slowed down, because many businesses have already prepared goods for Tet.

For the world's largest rice exporter, India, they dominate the African market with low prices, so Vietnamese rice is also difficult to compete. India also has a trade agreement with an output of 1 million tons of non-basmati rice for the Indonesian market. "Most of the current information with the rice market is beneficial to buyers"

Mr. Do Ha Nam, Vice President of VFA, commented that the world demand for rice in 2025 will still be high, especially in the Philippines, but there needs to be a policy to financially support businesses to purchase and stockpile rice. At the same time, it is necessary to improve quality and build brands to reduce dependence on a few markets.

"In the past, the capital and interest rate support policy required businesses to have both output and input contracts. This is a difficulty that needs to be resolved. Besides, we also have to face the reality that we are dependent on a few markets. In the long term, we need to improve quality and build rice brands to diversify the market," said Mr. Do Ha Nam.