Vietnam's rice exports may continue to grow

India has not yet lifted the ban, the world market demand is increasing, and rice production in the West is favorable, creating good opportunities for Vietnamese rice exports.

This is the assessment made by experts at the Conference on reviewing production and cultivation of the Summer-Autumn and Fall-Winter crops in 2023 and implementing the Winter-Spring crop plan for 2023-2024 in the Mekong Delta region on September 14.

According to the report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, this year, the total rice growing area in the West is over 3.8 million hectares, the yield is nearly 6.3 tons per hectare, the total output is nearly 24 million tons, an increase of 416,000 tons compared to last year.

There are currently 400,000 hectares of Autumn-Winter rice ready for harvest. The upcoming Winter-Spring crop 2023-2024 will begin planting from early October to early January 2024, divided into 4 batches with a total area of ​​nearly 1.5 million hectares, with an expected yield of more than 7.2 tons per hectare, and a total output of over 10.6 million tons.

Over the past 8 months, rice export turnover reached nearly 6 million tons, worth nearly 3.2 billion USD, an increase of more than 34%. This result shows that the volume of exported rice increased by 20%, completing 89% of the yearly plan, while the value alone increased by 34%.

Farmers in Tra Vinh province harvest the 2023 Summer-Autumn rice crop. Photo: An Binh

Mr. Le Thanh Tung, Deputy Director of the Department of Crop Production, forecasts that in the coming months, the world market's demand for rice will be quite high due to limited supply due to the export ban from India. Indonesia has a need to import large quantities of rice; the Philippines is likely to reduce import tax from 35% to 10%.

"Vietnam's rice export supply is no longer abundant," said Mr. Tung, adding that rice prices are likely to remain at current high levels until India lifts the export ban.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Anh, General Director of Phuong Dong Food Company Limited (one of the leading rice exporters in Vietnam), said that since 2019, we have no longer rescued rice. The price of rice has increased from 3,000-4,000 VND to 7,000-8,000 VND per kg.

One of the important reasons is that Vietnam has focused on producing high-quality rice. Since then, we have hardly had enough rice to sell. Currently, Vietnamese rice accounts for 80% of the Philippine market due to its improved quality and popularity among the people of this country. The Philippines' rice imports have doubled in 4 years, from 1.8 to 3.6 million tons.

"Rice is an essential product; many countries cannot produce it while demand is increasing," said Mr. Viet Anh, predicting that India, for example, will not lift its ban on rice exports until next year. This is because the country is experiencing low rainfall, has good reserves, and has elections in 2024.

This businessman believes that Vietnamese rice is of high quality, delicious, even superior to Thai rice, and is in a state of lacking sources for sale. However, the reality is that the problem is a broken chain of links outside the fields. The situation of breaking contracts and selling to other people is common and there is no legal corridor to sanction. Therefore, businesses do not have enough sources to export according to the contract, suffer losses, break contracts, and affect the national reputation.

"Therefore, from now until the end of the year, Vietnam needs to balance supply to ensure effective export, mutual benefit for businesses and farmers...", Mr. Viet Anh said.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Nam - Chairman of the Vietnam Food Association, said that according to the calculation and balance of goods output of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, from now until the end of the year, Vietnam will continue to export 1.2 million tons of rice, which is within the reach of businesses.

This is the time when rice exporting enterprises are starting to negotiate with customers for next year, so they are very interested in the time of planting, harvesting, and variety structure of the 2023-2024 Winter-Spring crop. The Philippines is still the number 1 market, accounting for 40%. China has recently slowed down its imports due to high prices, but this country is having a bad harvest, so it will import a lot of rice in the coming time.

According to Mr. Nam, there are still 400,000 hectares of the Autumn-Winter crop that have not been harvested yet, and according to the plan of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the upcoming Winter-Spring crop will continue to focus on the strength of producing fragrant, high-quality rice varieties. "This crop will be planted from October 10, and in January 2024, rice will be available for export," Mr. Nam said, adding that this is a favorable condition for rice exports.

Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dong Thap province, Le Quoc Dien, said that the locality has 189,000 hectares of land for the 2023-2024 Winter-Spring rice crop. With favorable production and consumption conditions, farmers are eager to plant early to sell at high prices. Therefore, about 100,000 hectares of rice will be harvested before the 2024 Lunar New Year.

Mr. Hoang Trung - Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development said that this year, rice exports will reach a record. "To take advantage of the current high price opportunity, localities in the region need to protect the autumn-winter rice area well to prepare for harvest, focusing on planting the winter-spring crop according to the set orientation," the Deputy Minister noted.

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