Rice is packaged for export at a factory of the Loc Troi Group in An Giang province (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam has seen strong growth in rice exports in the first fivemonths of this year, shipping nearly 2.9 million tonnes abroad for 1.41 billionUSD, up 5.1 percent and 18.9 percent, respectively, year-on-year.
Shipmentshave increased sharply since May 1, when the Government resumed rice exports,Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said.
Thecountry is pinning its hopes on exporting 3.7 million tonnes of rice in thefirst half of the year.
Riceexport prices averaged 485 USD per tonne during the period, a year-on-yearincrease of 13 percent, according to the Agro Processing and Market DevelopmentAuthority. The average price surged 21.4 percent year-on-year in May, to 527USD per tonne.
The priceof 5 percent broken rice shot up to 475 USD per tonne on June 4 - the highest pointin eight years. Prices ranged from 450 to 460 USD per tonne a week prior.
DeputyMinister of Agricultural and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh revealed thatVietnam expects to produce 43.5 million tonnes of paddy rice, including over 20million tonnes harvested in the winter-spring crop, which will end before June30.
Thesouthern region is cultivating the summer-autumn rice crop on a total of nearly1.63 million ha. The area is estimated to generate roughly 9.2 million tonnesof paddy, up 44,000 tonnes against the summer-autumn crop last year.
ThePhilippines was the biggest buyer of Vietnamese rice in the first four monthsof 2020, accounting for 40.5 percent. It plans to purchase an additional 300,000tonnes to strengthen its reserves and prepare for the low-supply season in thethird quarter.
Bangladeshis also seeking to import an additional 200,000 tonnes of paddy to secure supplyfor domestic coronavirus relief efforts.
Global ricedemand remains high while supply is limited, said Ly Thai Hung,Director-General of the Hung Cuc Ltd. Co., one of the leading rice exporters inVietnam’s north.
Vietnamenjoying a bumper harvest in the winter-spring and summer-autumn crops, hecontinued, would present a major export opportunity./.
VNA
