Rice exports in 2023 will reach over 8.1 million tons

"2024 will continue to have many unpredictable fluctuations, including India's ban on rice exports and China and Indonesia's increased rice imports, creating more opportunities for Vietnam's rice exports," said delegates at the Trade Promotion Conference with Vietnamese trade offices abroad in February 2024.

The conference was organized by the Trade Promotion Agency and the Import-Export Agency (Ministry of Industry and Trade) on February 29, with the theme: "Evaluating the export situation and orienting trade promotion activities to develop the rice market in 2024".

According to the delegates' assessment, despite facing many challenges, 2023 is still a successful year for our country's rice industry with export output reaching over 8.1 million tons, worth 4.6 billion USD, and average export price reaching 575 USD/ton.

Delegates at the Trade Promotion Conference with Vietnamese trade agencies abroad in February 2024.

“Compared to the same period in 2022, 2023 increased by 14.4% in quantity and 35.3% in value, the average price increased by 88.8 USD/ton. Notably, this is the highest export result in the history of Vietnam's rice industry since participating in exports in 1989.

Vietnam continues to be one of the three leading rice exporting countries in the world, accounting for about 15% of total global rice exports, along with India and Thailand," said a representative of the Food Association.

Identifying the global rice trade situation in 2024, Mr. Vu Ba Phu, Director of the Trade Promotion Agency (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said that this market continues to be affected by many factors such as the ban on rice exports in some countries; Russia's announcement of withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Agreement; unfavorable weather negatively affecting food production in many countries... affecting the rice production and export activities of countries.

Therefore, all policy changes, fluctuations in supply and demand and price trends of rice consuming countries in the world will directly affect the Vietnamese rice industry.

“However, in January 2024, rice export activities showed signs of improvement. According to preliminary estimates from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnamese rice was exported to 27 markets with a volume of over 512,000 tons, worth 362 million USD in January 2024, an increase of 42.8% in volume and 94.5% in value compared to the same period in 2022,” said Mr. Phu.

Regarding information about the market for Vietnam's rice exports, Mr. Phung Van Thanh - Vietnam's Trade Counselor in the Philippines said that the Philippines is the largest consumer market for Vietnam's rice industry, with 85% of output imported from our country, 10% from Thailand and the rest coming from markets such as India, Bangladesh, Japan, and Taiwan (China).

“Vietnam’s rice supply is stable in both quantity and price, and can meet the Philippines’ annual import demand. Vietnam also takes advantage of bilateral and multilateral trade agreements that both sides participate in, while the Philippines’ non-ASEAN partners, such as India and Pakistan, do not have them,” said Mr. Thanh.

Vietnamese rice exporting enterprises need to continue to coordinate well with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Embassy and the Trade Office of Vietnam in the Philippines to implement programs to promote, propagate and advertise Vietnamese rice products.

“Enterprises need to diversify their rice export products, not only focusing too much on high-quality rice products serving high-income people, but also need to exploit the potential of medium-quality rice to serve a large number of middle- and low-income people.

Enterprises also need to proactively seek partners, expand their customer base, strengthen relationships and maintain business reputation with partners and customers, and build traditional and sustainable customer relationships," said Mr. Thanh.

Mr. Pham The Cuong, Vietnam's Trade Counselor in Indonesia - Vietnam's second largest importer, said that in recent days, rice prices in this market have been increasing sharply due to a serious shortage of supply.

As of February 2024, Indonesia has experienced eight consecutive months of rice deficit due to domestic production falling short of demand. Rice shortages have emerged in supermarkets. The Indonesian Trade Minister has asked people to switch to buying government-regulated rice to avoid rice prices rising too high in the free market. Retail prices for high-quality rice in the market are up to $1.16/kg, exceeding the government's ceiling price of $0.9/kg.

The rice shortage is severe, in the context that the main harvest season has not yet begun and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan will begin in mid-March 2024, which will cause the demand for food to continue to increase sharply.

Therefore, Mr. Cuong predicted: "The Indonesian government will continue to open bids to buy more rice soon, in addition to the bid to buy 500,000 tons of rice on January 17 (in which Vietnamese rice exporting enterprises won bids to supply more than 300,000 tons).

Vietnamese rice exporting enterprises need to closely monitor market information and take advantage of opportunities to export rice to the Indonesian market in the first months of the year .

PHAM DUY

Source