Traders come directly to the farm, but farmers don't accept deposits right away.

Traders are looking to buy at high prices.

Currently, farmer Le Ngoc An's 1.2-hectare rice field (Vinh Thanh district, Can Tho city) is in the flowering stage and is expected to be harvested around the 10th day of the 12th lunar month. The farmer said that many traders have already come to his field to place deposits in advance at high prices.

“This season I planted Dai Thom 8 rice. From the moment I sowed the seeds, traders came to my field to offer a deposit at 7,500 VND/kg of fresh rice. After that, every few days traders would come to inquire, and most recently, when the rice was flowering, a trader came to buy it at 9,500 VND/kg. Having grown rice for many years, I've never seen rice prices as high as they are now,” Mr. An recounted.

According to Mr. An, the high price of rice and the rush of traders placing early deposits are due to the current limited supply of rice while consumer demand is high during the Tet holiday.

Although harvest is still about 40 days away, farmer Le Chi Tam (Binh Thuy district, Can Tho city) has already attracted many buyers for his Dai Thom 8 rice crop: “This winter-spring season, my family sowed the Dai Thom 8 variety. Even though it has only recently bloomed, many familiar traders have already offered high prices and placed deposits. Some have offered up to 9,300 VND/kg of fresh rice. This price is much higher than last winter-spring season.”

Farmers are not in a hurry to accept deposits.

Mr. An calculated that if the price was fixed at 9,500 VND/kg, after deducting costs for fertilizer, pesticides, harvesting machinery, labor, etc., he would make a profit of about 6 million VND per công (1 công = 1,200 square meters). If the harvest was good, it could reach 7 million VND per công, higher than in previous years. However, even though some farmers were excitedly closing deals immediately, this farmer was still hesitant to accept deposits because he believed that the price of rice would continue to rise in the future.

“In most previous years, rice prices were low. Those who owned their own land broke even, while those who rented land suffered losses. Therefore, when offered high prices, many farmers, especially those who rented land, accepted deposits and signed contracts with traders to avoid risks. Seeing this, I was also very anxious. But considering the upcoming demand for rice and learning from previous seasons where accepting deposits early only to regret it later, I decided to wait until closer to harvest time to finalize the price,” Mr. An shared.

Mr. An hesitated to accept the deposit even though traders offered a high price. Photo: My Ly

Mr. Tam said that in the previous season, many households accepted deposits early because they thought the current price was higher than in previous years, not to mention that even if the price of rice dropped later, they would still make a profit and wouldn't be affected. As for him, by not rushing to accept deposits, he secured a much better price than many of his neighbors. Therefore, learning from that experience, for this season, despite receiving many attractive offers from traders to accept early deposits, Mr. Tam still refused.

“The price offered by the traders this time isn't unreasonable, but I'm still holding out. I'll finalize the deal when someone offers around 9,600 – 10,000 VND/kg. Last season, thanks to selling late, each kilogram of my rice sold for about 1,000 VND more, resulting in higher profits. Since the rice still has a month to go before harvest, I don't want to accept a deposit too early and then regret it,” Mr. Tam said.

According to updates from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of An Giang province, the price of IR 504 rice is at 9,200 – 9,400 VND/kg; Dai Thom 8 rice remains around 9,800 – 10,000 VND/kg; OM 18 is at 9,800 – 10,000 VND/kg; OM 5451 is at 9,600 - 9,800 VND/kg; Nang Hoa 9 remains stable at 10,000 – 10,200 VND/kg; and OM 380 rice fluctuates around 8,600 - 8,800 VND/kg.

Source