Illustrative image (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The US Department of Agriculture(USDA) has forecast that Vietnam would maintain its position as the world’ssecond biggest rice exporter this year.
According to the department, Vietnam will export 6.4million tonnes of rice in 2011, an increase of 233,000 tonnes compared thevolume recorded in the previous year.
It is likely that India will remain the largest riceexporter in the world, with 15.5 million tonnes rice shipped abroad this year. Thailand will rank third with an estimated exportvolume of 6.1 million tonnes.
Last year, Vietnam shipped abroad 6.15 million tonnesof rice worth 3.07 billion USD, down 3.5 percent in volume but up 9.3 percentin value year-on-year.
Statistics show that in the first four months of thisyear, the country exported 1.89 million tonnes of rice, down 10.8 percent involume but up 1.2 percent in value over the same period last year.
The Vietnam Food Association said Vietnam’s riceexport structure has shifted towards quality types with higher prices and addedvalues./.
VNA
