Canada increases rice imports from Vietnam
Statistics Canada data shows that Canada's total rice imports from countries around the world in 2023 will reach $508 million, up 2% compared to 2022.
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| Canadian market demand for rice has increased steadily over the years, and will remain stable at around $500 million per year. |
In 2023, Vietnam recorded a rice export growth rate of up to 56.4% to the Canadian market, and was the country with the top 3 growth rate in turnover, contributing to Vietnam expanding its market share to nearly 2.9% (higher than the figure of 1.6% before the CPTPP Agreement).
In 2023, Vietnam's rice exports, mainly milled white rice, increased by 58% compared to 2022. The amount of brown rice and broken rice exported was insignificant, increasing by 73% and 126.5% respectively compared to the same period in 2022.
In 2023, the province/state importing the most milled white rice will still be British Columbia, followed by Ontario, Alberta; Quebec and Manitoba import negligible rice from Vietnam. The average price of imported white rice to British Columbia is relatively low, only CAD 750/ton; in Alberta, it slightly increased to CAD 808/ton and CAD 856/ton in Ontario. The highest price of imported rice to Quebec was up to CAD 1,442/ton.
For brown rice and broken rice, the province/state that imported the most was Ontario, followed by British Columbia. Quebec imported more brown rice than Manitoba and Alberta, but imported less broken rice than these two provinces. The price of broken rice delivered to Ontario reached CAD 824/ton, while it reached CAD 1,365/ton in British Columbia. The price of imported brown rice to British Columbia reached CAD 2,884/ton.
Vietnamese rice has recently been highly appreciated by importers for its quality, however some importers are not satisfied with the broken rice content (still around 5%) while other countries such as Thailand have better milling quality, with a broken rice ratio of almost 0%.
In addition to long white rice (jasmine), currently, round Japanese rice grown in Vietnam is being imported quite strongly by Canada, which is one of the reasons for the growth of rice turnover to the market in 2023. However, like jasmine white rice, round sushi rice is packaged under the packaging and brand of foreign corporations.
There is still room for export.
The Canadian market demand for rice has been steadily increasing over the years, and will remain stable at around 500 million USD/year. Overall, Vietnamese rice still has a lot of room to enter the Canadian market because this is one of the largest rice consuming markets in the world.
“ Canada is a rice importer serving about 7 million people of Asian origin. The Vietnamese community in Canada has now reached about 300,000, the 4th largest Asian community in Canada. Therefore, Canada has a fairly stable demand for rice products , ” according to the Vietnam Trade Office in Canada.
Vietnam is one of the 10 major rice exporters to Canada, after the United States, Thailand, India, and Pakistan. Vietnam's rice products still have many opportunities to rapidly increase exports to the market because up to now, Vietnam's market share is still very small, while Canadian import partners are beginning to realize that the quality of Vietnamese rice is not inferior to that of Thai rice.
Vietnam's rice export figures to the market may be much lower than the actual figure because currently Vietnamese rice is still exported to the United States, packaged there and then transported to Canada.
However, rice exports to the market have increased steadily over the years, showing that Canadian importers are beginning to be interested in importing directly from Vietnam to replace/reduce dependence on the white rice markets of Thailand and the United States.
For many years, Canada has provided a lot of technical assistance to improve the institutional capacity of agencies, associations, cooperatives and businesses operating in the agricultural sector.
In particular, Canada has had a practical support project in the rice sector since 2011, through the Soc Trang Province Small and Medium Enterprise Development Project to support from the research stage to the commercialization of ST25 rice products.
Canadian experts have not only supported in improving management and operation capacity, building brands, searching and promoting markets, and enhancing competitiveness, but have also helped Soc Trang's agricultural production facilities apply environmentally friendly production techniques and sustainable production.
Thanks to that, farmers and cooperatives benefiting from the projects have become increasingly proactive in production, meeting standards and moving towards a circular economy, ensuring a closed production process that does not pollute the environment.
The prospect of Vietnam's rice exports to the market in the coming time will remain very positive thanks to the price advantage compared to similar products of competitors. The network of overseas Vietnamese businessmen is an active partner supporting the increase of Vietnam's rice market share in Canada, especially bringing high-quality rice ST 25 to the market.
However, according to Ms. Tran Thu Quynh - Vietnam Trade Counselor in Canada, the significant difficulty for Vietnam's rice exports is still the lack of a brand, so consumers do not recognize it to choose. The decision to buy Vietnamese rice is still mainly based on price, not brand loyalty.
In addition, the geographical distance issue puts Vietnam's rice exports at a great disadvantage in terms of transportation costs/delivery time compared to competitors. In the context that some countries still have forms of export subsidies, transportation subsidies or exchange rate support, Vietnam's rice products still face many difficulties due to the high domestic logistics costs/time, affecting quality.
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