Prices rise, volumes increase in many high-end markets
According to statistics from the General Department of Customs, compared to the same period last year, in the first 6 months of 2024, Vietnam's rice exports reached 4.7 million tons, an increase of 10.4% and the turnover reached nearly 3 billion USD, an increase of 32%. Notably, the average rice export price in the first 6 months increased by over 18% compared to the same period in 2023. Many markets achieved very high average rice export prices such as Brunei at 959 USD/ton, the US at 868 USD/ton, the Netherlands at 857 USD/ton, Ukraine at 847 USD/ton, Iraq at 836 USD/ton, Türkiye at 831 USD/ton, etc.
Vietnam's rice exports will accelerate in the last months of the year. CONG HAN
It can be said that Vietnamese rice is at its peak in both quantity and quality. To achieve the above results, over the years, Vietnamese enterprises have continuously invested in rice grain quality and built product brands in many high-end international markets. Therefore, the value of rice grains has been constantly improved in markets such as Japan, EU, USA, etc.
The most notable in recent times is the French market. In the first quarter alone, Vietnam's rice exports to this market increased dramatically to 18,200 tons and the value was 19.1 million USD; on average, 1 ton of rice costs over 1,000 USD. In the EU region as a whole, in the first 3 months of the year alone, we supplied 46,000 tons of rice, with a turnover of 41.4 million USD, an increase of nearly 118% over the same period last year.
The Vietnam Trade Office in the EU informed that Vietnam's specialty fragrant rice varieties such as ST25, ST24, Nang Hoa, OM are very popular in the market thanks to their delicious quality. Therefore, the price of Vietnamese rice here is higher than the average of other countries. For example, Italian rice is about 2 euros/kg, Cambodian rice is about 1.5 euros/kg, while Vietnamese rice is 2.5 euros/kg and only lower than Thai specialty rice (3 euros/kg). The result of increasing rice export turnover to the EU market is thanks to businesses that have been taking advantage of opportunities from the Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). Compared to other rice exporting countries such as India and Thailand, Vietnam is the most competitive country in these markets and is also the best sector to take advantage of the trade benefits brought by EVFTA in the first year.
Outside of Europe, in the first 3 months of 2024, Vietnam exported 135,300 tons of rice to the American market, with a turnover of 94.5 million USD, an increase of 299% over the same period.
Mr. Dinh Minh Tam, Director of Co May Company Limited (Dong Thap)
Mr. Dinh Minh Tam, Director of Co May Company Limited (Dong Thap), said: After a period of strong growth at the beginning of the year, since May, export activities to the EU and US markets have slowed down due to a sharp increase in shipping costs. The demand of these markets is still very large, but they want to wait until August in the hope that the costs will decrease because export activities from China to the US are no longer as high as in the past.
“High-quality specialty rice products such as ST25 are favored by many high-end markets. Recently, the price of domestic raw rice has increased, so the price of finished rice has also increased. I believe that after August, the market will be more active because in addition to the transportation cost factor, the market is also preparing for the year-end consumption season,” said Mr. Tam.
Food security cooperation
Our survey shows that some other businesses in the rice industry also have similar views.
Mr. Pham Thai Binh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Trung An High-Tech Agriculture Joint Stock Company (Can Tho), said: High-end specialty rice lines of Vietnam such as ST25 priced at 900 - 1,000 USD/ton are normal in recent years. Trung An still maintains the export of these products to high-end markets. Even the EU market can accept the import of high-end rice products with prices up to 2,000 USD/ton, but requires very high quality and safety. "Production output as well as demand in this segment is not much. Besides, one of the important issues of the Vietnamese rice industry is the production and consumption of 6 - 8 million tons of rice per year," Mr. Binh shared.
According to Mr. Binh, the fact that the Philippine Minister of Agriculture is visiting and working in Vietnam shows that they have a great need to cooperate in buying rice and producing food with Vietnam. Many other countries also have a need to buy Vietnamese rice. It can be said that there is a large room for output. The remaining issue is that domestic enterprises must coordinate and cooperate to promote sustainable exports and bring common benefits to the community and farmers.
According to the report of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, to maintain sustainable rice exports, the Minister of Industry and Trade and the Minister of Agriculture of the Philippines signed a memorandum of understanding on rice trade cooperation. Specifically, in the period of 2024 - 2028, except in cases of natural disasters and crop failures, Vietnam is ready to provide the Philippines with an annual quantity of up to 1.5 - 2 million tons of white rice, and at the same time agree to implement a number of measures to exchange information on rice trade activities between the two countries. In addition, negotiations with Indonesia and Malaysia on considering signing a memorandum of understanding on rice trade to create a stable and sustainable environment.
In fact, exports have been sluggish recently because Philippine importers want to wait for instructions from the Philippine government after the decision to reduce rice import tax from 35% to 15%. In addition, increased shipping costs have also affected the import progress of distant markets such as the Middle East or Africa. However, the above moves show that the market demand for rice is still very large and Vietnam's rice exports in the second half of the year promise many surprises.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/gia-gao-viet-len-gan-1000-usd-tan-185240707211250405.htm
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