Indonesia increased purchases by more than 2,500%, becoming a major customer of Vietnamese rice.

Preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs show that in the first four months of this year alone, our country exported nearly 2.9 million tons of rice, earning nearly 1.53 billion USD, up 40.7% in volume and 51.6% in value over the same period last year.

In March and April alone, rice exports earned nearly 1.1 billion USD. The average export price of rice reached 526 USD/ton, up 7.6% over the same period last year.

Since the beginning of the year, rice exports to African markets have recorded negative growth. However, customers in Asia including the Philippines, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc. have been massively buying Vietnamese rice in large quantities. Accordingly, in the first 4 months of 2023, rice exports to these Asian markets all grew by 3 to 4 digits.

Currently, the Philippines is still the largest customer of Vietnamese rice exports. As of the end of April 2023, the value of rice exports to this market reached 647.5 million USD, an increase of 53.4% ​​over the same period last year and accounting for 42.4% of the total value of rice exports of our country.

Rice export turnover increased sharply. Photo: Tam An

China emerged as the second largest export market with a turnover of 292.5 million USD, up 88.2% over the same period.

Notably, Indonesia has been buying Vietnamese rice in large quantities in recent months. In just the first four months of this year, rice exports to this market earned 149 million USD, a sharp increase of 2,514% compared to the same period last year.

In 2022, rice exports to Indonesia reached only 58 million USD. This is a very modest figure in our country's total rice export turnover of 3.45 billion USD in 2022. However, with a turnover increase of 2,514% in the first 4 months of this year, Indonesia has for the first time in history become the third largest customer of Vietnamese rice, behind only the Philippines and China.

In 2022, the Philippines, China, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Malaysia are the five largest export markets for Vietnamese rice, with turnover of: 1.491 billion USD, 432.3 million USD, 230 million USD, 294.6 million USD and 199 million USD, respectively.

At the end of March, the Vietnamese Trade Office in Indonesia cited information from the Indonesian Ministry of Trade saying that the country will import 2 million tons of rice for national reserves in 2023.

According to the Indonesian government, the imported national rice reserves will be used for the rice price stabilization program, support for 21.53 million poor households and other purposes. The national logistics agency - Preum Bulog - continues to be designated as the import hub, of which 500,000 tons will be implemented as soon as possible.

This is a great opportunity for Vietnam to boost rice exports to Indonesia. However, the Vietnam Trade Office in Indonesia noted that in order to supply the largest amount of rice for the upcoming purchase by this country, Vietnamese rice exporting enterprises, especially those that have been supplying national reserve rice to Indonesia, need to proactively approach Preum Bulog early to promote their products.

According to the Center for Digital Transformation and Agricultural Statistics (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), in April 2023, rice export prices from Vietnam increased to the highest level in two years. Meanwhile, Thai and Indian rice prices both tended to increase until mid-month, then turned down towards the end of the month.

In Vietnam, 5% broken rice prices were offered at $495-500 per tonne (the highest since April 2021), up $50 per tonne from a month ago. The winter-spring harvest - the biggest rice crop of the year - has ended.

In India, 5% broken parboiled rice is currently priced at $382-$388 per tonne, down from $385-$392 per tonne in mid-April 2023. Indian rice prices have fallen due to the depreciation of the rupee, while export demand has been quite stable.

In Thailand, the price of 5% broken rice was at $480/ton, down $10 from $485-490/ton in mid-April 2023, but up $17/ton compared to the average in March. The rice market was quiet after the Songkran holiday - the Thai New Year celebration.

Businesses said demand for Vietnamese rice remains strong, while domestic supply is running low.

However, with this high increase, importers including the Philippines may slow down their purchases. The director of a rice exporting company revealed that the company does not have enough quality rice to sell to customers. In particular, customers buying rice from Europe, the US, etc. all have high demand.

The current difficulty is not the export market, but the quality rice growing areas to have a large enough supply to export to high-end markets.