Rice prices in the West will continue to decrease, why?

Farmers in the Mekong Delta are entering the harvest of the late autumn-winter rice crop and the winter-spring rice crop. However, the sharpest decline in rice prices in 19 months has made many people worried.

Farmers in Vinh Thuan district, Kien Giang province harvested late autumn-winter rice but were forced to lower prices - Photo: PHUONG DONG

On December 27, Tuoi Tre Online reported that in the late autumn-winter rice fields of Vinh Thuan district, Kien Giang province, farmers were distraught because brokers forced down prices a few days before the rice harvest.

Rice prices fall, farmers worried

The family of Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phuc, residing in Vinh Thuan district, Kien Giang province, said that the family has 1.2 hectares of OM 5451 rice that was harvested 2 days ago. About 10 days before the harvest, traders paid a deposit of 8,000 VND/kg.

"However, just one day later, they called to "force the price" down to 7,800 VND/kg. Just the price difference in 10 days alone, farmers lost about 1 million VND/cong," said Mr. Phuc.

Meanwhile, some households in An Bien district, Kien Giang province said that due to bad weather, rice yield was lower than previous crops. Rice prices dropped, profits became even lower, and some households were at risk of losses.

Mr. Nguyen Van Ghi's family, residing in Thanh Yen A commune, An Bien district, said that his family plans to harvest 1 hectare of HR 182 rice variety in the next 5 days. However, the current price of rice is only 7,200 VND/kg, a decrease of 1,000 - 2,000 VND/kg compared to 20 days ago.

"Last year, the average yield per hectare was about 1 ton of rice. This year, I expect to only get about 800kg/hectare. The cost of growing rice has increased, but the yield has decreased. My family is expected to make a low profit this season, about 20-30 million VND. As for households that rent land to grow rice, the possibility of loss will be very high, because of the cost of renting the fields," Mr. Ghi said worriedly.

In An Giang, Mr. Dinh Thua Tu, residing in Vinh Khanh commune, Thoai Son district, An Giang, said that this winter-spring crop, his family produced 5 hectares of rice, the OM 380 variety. Currently, his winter-spring rice is over 1 month old. However, the news of falling rice prices like the recent past has made his family and neighbors more worried.

"In this area, people have not yet linked up with rice consuming enterprises, so they always wait for the rice price every day. If the rice price is below 7,000 VND/kg, farmers will hardly make a profit. Because the price of agricultural materials has increased, costs have increased a lot. If the rice price is below 7,000 VND/kg, farmers will definitely suffer losses," Mr. Tu said sadly.

Will rice prices fall further?

Mr. Nguyen Van Nghia - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Kien Giang province - said that Kien Giang is planting the 2024-2025 winter-spring crop on more than 280,179 hectares. It is expected that this year's early winter-spring crop will be harvested in February.

"In general, rice prices are currently decreasing. However, rice prices depend on the market, so what if they decrease today, they may increase tomorrow?", said Mr. Nghia.

The leader of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of An Giang province said that An Giang has not yet harvested rice. The autumn-winter rice crop has been harvested, and the winter-spring rice crop is in the stage of heading and flowering. In 2024, An Giang is expected to have over 4.1 million tons. Of which, high-quality rice accounts for 85% of the total 230,000 hectares.

After 19 months of price increases, Vietnamese rice prices are falling, causing concern among farmers, businesses and the government - Photo: BUU DAU

"The department's view is to encourage farmers to actively participate in cooperation with businesses for mutual benefit. However, due to many factors, some places have not yet been able to cooperate with businesses. Therefore, when rice prices fall, farmers will be more worried," he said.

Mr. Dinh Minh Tam - Director of Co May Company Limited (Dong Thap) - said that the company specializes in exporting ST25 rice to European countries and demanding markets. In addition, the company also supplies supermarket chains and rice stores across the country.

Currently, the export price of 5% broken rice from Vietnam is about 485 USD/ton, lower than that of Thai rice. However, regardless of the price, Vietnam's current rice exports have few orders and no partners. Previously, the sharp increase in Vietnamese rice prices was due to a lack of supply from India. Since India opened its doors in October, the export and domestic rice prices have almost returned to their previous state.

"Before India banned exports, our rice export price was only 400 USD/ton, but now it fluctuates at more than 485 USD/ton. Rice prices must return to a new normal state, and cannot be compared to 2023 in an unusual increase. Countries have a lot of food reserves, now they do not need to buy but have to sell, so the game now has many people selling rice. Now we have to accept the game and obey the market rules," said Mr. Tam.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/gia-lua-gao-mien-tay-se-tiep-tuc-giam-vi-sao-20241227132455126.htm