Rice exports to be driven by high prices, stable markets: insiders

Rice bags are loaded onto a vessel for transportation. (Photo: VNA)

The agriculture sector and traders have expressed their high optimism about rice exports this year given high prices and stable markets, helping the grain remain a big foreign currency earner.

Rice exports in 2024 could stay high thanks to such markets as the Philippines, Indonesia, Africa, and Ghana. In particular, Indonesia is a relatively potential market when its State Logistics Agency (Bulog) recently announced that it has been assigned by the Indonesian Government to import 2 million tonnes of rice this year, Chairman of the GLE Company Vu Tuan Anh told the Lao dong (Labour) daily.

Vietnam was among the largest rice exporters to Indonesia and is expected to maintain this status in 2024, he noted.

Last year, India, the world’s biggest rice exporter, suddenly banned the export of non-basmati white rice. Despite this unexpected move and no time for preparation, Vietnam still managed to ship abroad about 8.29 million tonnes of rice worth 4.78 billion USD in 2023, up 16.7% in volume and 38.4% in value year on year, setting new records in more than 30 years since the country began exporting rice.

In 2024, Vietnam is in a more proactive position as it can grasp global demand and domestic output, so there are more favourbale conditions for the export, Anh continued.

Particularly, export prices are still high, which will be a contribution to export growth, he said, perceiving that if India prolongs its export ban, Vietnam could earn over 5 billion USD from overseas shipments of rice this year.

Pham Thai Binh, Director of the Trung An Hi-Tech Farming JSC, said right at the start of 2024, his company received six orders for 1,500 tonnes of rice for the EU, the UK, Malaysia, the UAE, and Australia. FOB (free on board) prices, which are prices at Vietnam’s border gates, range from 718 USD per tonne to 1,277 EUR (nearly 1,390 USD) per tonne.

He voiced his belief that rice exports will be equivalent to last year’s in terms of volume but about 15 - 20% higher in value thanks to high prices.

Echoing the view, the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) held that rice exports will continue benefiting from a favourable context in 2024 as the world is facing a shortage of 5 million tonnes, such importers as Indonesia and the Philippines still have demand for imported rice, and India is likely to maintain export restrictions in the coming time.

Given this, rice shipments could bring home about 5.3 billion USD this year, the VFA forecast./.