Production ensures export of 7.4 million tons of rice this year

	Vietnam’s rice exports may exceed 2024 target
	Closely monitoring fluctuations to calculate the appropriate time to adjust prices
	Vietnam to have enough 8 million tonnes of rice for export

By the end of the first quarter of 2024, rice exports continued to increase by 45.5% in turnover compared to the same period last year - Photo: VGP/Do Huong

According to data from the General Department of Customs, in 2023, Vietnam exported 8.13 million tons of rice, an increase of 14.4% in volume, with a value of US$ 4.67 billion, an increase of 35.3% in turnover compared to the same period in 2022. The average rice export price reached US$ 575/ton, an increase of 18.26% compared to the average level in 2022.

By the end of the first quarter of 2024, rice exports continued to increase by 17.6% in volume and 45.5% in turnover compared to the first quarter of 2023, reaching over 2.18 million tons, equivalent to nearly US$ 1.43 billion, average price US$ 653.9 /ton.

Vietnamese rice continues to maintain its position in key markets

On April 26, the Ministry of Industry and Trade coordinated with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Can Tho City People's Committee to organize a conference to evaluate rice export results in 2023 and the first quarter of 2024 and discuss rice export orientation in the coming time.

Mr. Nguyen Anh Son, Director of the Import-Export Bureau (Ministry of Industry and Trade) assessed that Vietnam's rice export in the first quarter of 2024 continued to dominate key markets with great demand for output.

Typically, in the Philippine market, accounting for 46.4% of the total volume and 45.5% of the total rice export turnover of country, reaching over 1 million tons.

Ranked second is Indonesia, Vietnamese rice export to this market increased sharply by nearly 200% in volume, 308.8% in turnover and 36.4% in price over the same period in 2023, reaching 445,326 tons.

Rice export to the Malaysian market also increased by 28.8% in volume, 60.6% in turnover and 24.7% in price compared to the first quarter of 2023, reaching 98,917 tons.

Commenting on the world rice market situation in 2024, Mr. Son said that global rice production in the 2023-2024 crop year would reach nearly 518 million tons. Meanwhile, total consumption was 525 million tons, so it was forecast that the world would have a shortage of about 7 million tons of rice this year.

The Vietnam Food Association (VFA) estimated that by the first week of April 2024, the amount of commodity rice in the Winter-Spring crop was about 3 million tons, equivalent to about 2 million tons of rice.

In addition, over 430 thousand hectares of rice have been sown and have not yet been harvested. The 2024 Summer-Autumn crop sowed about 440 thousand hectares/1.48 million hectares, reaching about 30% of the plan. The Winter-Spring crop of 2023 - 2024 has begun to disperse since mid-April 2024, while the demand for purchasing raw rice for delivery of international contracts is still high, so domestic prices tend to be stable.

In addition, an assessment from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) also shows that the global rice supply is forecast to no longer be abundant because the main supply source, accounting for 40% of global production, India, will decrease by 4 million. tons compared to the previous crop year, remaining 132 million tons.

Other markets such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia... are also forecast to reduce output due to the impact of the El Nino phenomenon and climate change. In this context, according to Mr. Son, this is an opportunity for rice exporting countries, including Vietnam.

In market development and trade promotion activities, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has organized and implemented well the Strategy for developing Vietnam's rice export market until 2030 and actively negotiates and exchanges with import partners (Philippines, Malaysia) on considering signing a Rice Trade Memorandum of Understanding to create a stable and sustainable environment for rice trade for businesses of the two countries. At the same time, expand negotiations and sign Memorandums of Understanding on rice trade with new markets.

Accordingly, in November 2023, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam signed with the Ministry of Light Industry, Food and Agriculture of Mongolia a Memorandum of Understanding on rice trade between Vietnam and Mongolia with the amount of 300,000 tons. In February 2024, the Minister of Industry and Trade and the Minister of Agriculture of the Philippines signed a Memorandum of Understanding on rice trade cooperation with an annual quantity of up to 1.5 - 2.0 million tons of white rice.

In addition, direct and support key traders exporting rice to China to coordinate closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Department of Plant Protection) to complete registration documents for export processing facility data, avoiding disruption of rice export activities to the Chinese market. Organize rice trade delegations in 2023 in Hong Kong and China markets (Beijing city and Guangzhou city) to maintain, consolidate and expand rice product market share, promote the image Vietnamese rice brand products to consumers.

Vietnam is researching rice varieties that respond to current climate change - Photo: VGP/Do Huong

Rice output meets export demand

In 2024, the global rice trade market still faces challenges such as a decrease in global rice supply due to impact from the rice export ban of some markets such as India, UAE, Russia and El Nino phenomenon, climate change, in many areas. Along with that, the complicated geopolitical situation is expected to impact Vietnam's rice export business in the last months of 2024.

However, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam said that it iwas expected that in 2024 Vietnam would export about 7.4 million tons of rice. Of which, the amount of rice exported in the first 6 months of 2024 was estimated at 4.38 million tons and in the last 6 months of the year over 3 million tons.

Deputy Minister Nam affirmed that current rice output was about 43 million tons, equivalent to about 20 million tons of rice. This number completely met domestic consumption needs, ensured national food security and serves exports.

According to Deputy Minister Nam, two problems in the rice chain that existed for a long time were that producers did not know where to sell. Businesses really wanted to buy rice, but had not determined the appropriate time to sign a contract, as well as found the location of source raw materials, so they had to purchase through intermediaries, which increases costs.

"We have sent information to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and localities about the rice output of each crop, but there is still no strict information. When businesses sign contracts, they do not know how the output is", Deputy Minister Nam wondered.

Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam proposed to the Ministry of Industry and Trade that, before each crop season, relevant agencies of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, along with the Vietnam Food Association and the Vietnam Rice Industry Association, agree on the implementation contents. Then notify businesses to participate, creating a close connection between production and product consumption.

Mr. Bui Ba Bong, Chairman of the Vietnam Rice Industry Association (VIETRISA) made three recommendations at this conference.

Firstly, ministries and branches need to provide stronger support for businesses, associations and localities to promote, inform and propagate about Vietnamese rice internationally. This contributed to enhancing the image and position of Vietnamese rice with the slogan: Vietnamese Rice, Green Rice - Healthy Living.

Secondly, businesses need to pay attention to developing raw material areas to ensure rice quality, meeting market requirements, this was also the sustainable development of businesses.

Third, provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta need to promote their key role in building raw material areas, developing cooperatives, linking farmers as bridges, marketing, and attracting business connections in raw material areas of localities.