Rice prices increase thanks to high-quality rice exports
In the second week of July, summer-autumn rice prices in the Mekong Delta provinces increased again as demand from export enterprises increased.
Good quality summer-autumn rice during the weekend (July 14) was purchased by traders at the field at 4,500 - 4,800 VND/kg, dry rice at 5,400 - 5,600 VND, an increase of about 300 - 400 VND compared to the first days of July.
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The rice market, according to businesses, has begun to show signs of warming up due to the demand for rice from importers. Mr. Truong Thanh Phong, Chairman of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), said that Chinese and African customers have returned to importing high-quality rice from Vietnam because they cannot find a better supply source from Thailand, where prices are quite high. In addition, the export market for fragrant rice to Asian countries, especially
“There is no longer any concern about export contracts in July and August. It is likely that after July, the market will see some new demand, combined with normal purchases and exports in the remaining months of the year, so the plan to consume all 3.7 million tons of summer-autumn and autumn-winter rice will be achieved. However, rice prices will not likely decrease but will not increase as much as in previous years,” Mr. Phong analyzed.
By July 14, businesses had registered to export over 5.5 million tons of rice, an increase of more than 7%, of which 4.2 million tons had been exported, worth 1.9 billion USD. According to the plan, in the last six months of the year, the amount of commercial rice needed for consumption is about 5.3 million tons, of which 1.6 million tons are from the winter-spring crop, according to the plan, about 4 million tons will be exported, and 1.3 million tons will be in stock until 2014.
VFA assessed that while neighboring Thailand has a policy of subsidizing rice prices, Vietnam must have a strategy to promote high-quality rice exports to enter the segment that Thailand finds difficult to dominate due to high prices. "In the first six months of this year, thanks to successfully penetrating the high-quality rice market in West Africa and China, domestic rice prices have been kept at a level that does not drop too deeply," commented the director of a rice exporting enterprise.
Some businesses also confirmed that in recent days, the export price of rice has increased by several dozen USD, ranging from 410 - 420 USD/ton compared to the beginning of the month, and the trend of customers choosing to buy high-quality, fragrant rice is increasing.
Mr. Phong commented: “The weather is quite favorable for farmers to harvest summer-autumn rice, thanks to which the quality of rice has improved significantly. Enterprises are actively buying for export, so in July and August, the peak harvest time (about 1.4 million hectares of summer-autumn rice), rice prices will remain stable and not decrease.”
According to the Center for Industry and Trade Information (Ministry of Industry and Trade), Thailand plans to sell its rice reserves from this week. They plan to sell up to 1.5 million tons of rice per month from now until the end of the year and will have to reduce prices, accept large losses to sell the rice. This is a pressure on Vietnam's rice exports.
According to Baocongthuong-PH
