Rice exports bring in nearly US$1 billion
In the first quarter of 2023, the average export price of Vietnamese rice reached US$529/ton, an increase of
The phenomenon of El Nino reappeared, helping Vietnam's rice grow suddenly in export output, and many countries rushed to buy Vietnamese rice.
The latest report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shows that Vietnam's rice exports in 6 months reached 4.2 million tons, with a turnover of 2.32 billion USD. In the first five months of the year, the average export price of rice was 517 USD/ton, up 5.8% from the same time in 2022 (489 USD/ton).
Countries massively buy Vietnamese rice.
According to the latest report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, rice exports in 6 months reached 4.2 million tons; turnover reached 2.32 billion USD.
The average export price of rice in the first five months of the year reached $517 a ton, up 5.8% over the same period in 2022 ($489 a ton).
Vietnam shipped 3.6 million tons of rice to the world in the first five months of 2023, with the Philippines receiving 1.5 million tons, accounting for 42.3%. Vietnam's rice consumption continues to be led by the Philippines.
This data is similar to what the Ministry of Agriculture stated, according to which, in the first half of 2023, the Philippines was the largest rice-consuming market in Vietnam.
The Philippines holds a market share of 42.4%, with an import volume of about 1.5 million tons, equivalent to more than 772 million USD.
China ranked second with a turnover of 364 million USD, up 72.9% over the same period last year.
Indonesia suddenly rose from the 8th position to enter the top 3 countries that buy Vietnamese rice the most, after the Philippines and China.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Indonesia bought more than $181 million of rice from Vietnam in the first five months of the year, up 14 times over the same period last year.
Notably, this year, countries that used to buy very little Vietnamese rice, such as Chile or Turkey, increased their purchases by 28 and 132 times, respectively, over the same period last year.
"EL Nino appeared" forced many countries to increase the purchase of reserve rice.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development explained that countries increased their imports of Vietnamese rice due to the phenomenon of "EL Nino appearing"; the heat, prolonged drought, and difficult crops forced many countries to increase their purchases for food storage.
For example, in the Philippines, the Philippine Department of Agriculture even forecasted El Nino to return, the risk of severely affecting the country's domestic food production.
According to the Asia-Africa Market Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam, in the first five months of 2023, the Philippines imported 1.5 million tons of rice from Vietnam, accounting for 89.6. % of the total 1.62 million tons of rice imported into this country. The Philippine Bureau of Statistics also reported that the country's rice imports climbed by approximately 7.7% in the first five months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.
Therefore, Vietnam continues to be the largest rice supplier to the Philippines. More specifically, despite previous forecasts about the possibility of the Philippines reducing rice imports in 2023 due to the high cost of imports and the government's orientation to develop domestic production to be self-sufficient in food, the Philippines shows great import demand.
The massive purchase of Vietnamese rice by the Philippine government is to meet the demand for consumption as well as to store it to cope with weather instability when the El Nino phenomenon returns, leading to drought; hot and dry conditions can cause drought. have a major impact on domestic food production.
On the other hand, the demand for imports increased; El Nino also contributed to the increase in world rice prices when many countries started to stockpile food.
These key factors lead to the positive growth of Vietnam's rice exports in volume and value to the Philippines.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian government forecasts that El Nino may cause drought in this country from May to July, so the area and output in the July-August harvest for agricultural products may decrease strongly. Despite continuously increasing rice prices, Indonesia is expected to import 2 million tons of rice this year.
For two countries like Chile and Türkiye, drought has also threatened the crops of these countries for many years.
Recently, market research company Fitch Solutions forecast that the global rice market in 2023 will face the most severe shortage in the past 20 years.
A shortfall of about 8.7 million tons is expected in the 2022-2023 crop year, the highest level since 2003-2004 (reaching 18.6 million tons).
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is estimated to export 8 million tons of rice annually.
According to many Vietnamese traders, the supply is currently limited due to the end of the winter-spring rice harvest and the transition to the summer-autumn crop.
Statistics show that the winter-spring rice crop has harvested over 10.6 million tons. The summer-autumn crop in the Mekong Delta has just sown about 907,000 hectares out of a total area of more than 1.5 million hectares.
Vietnam's rice has been exported to 156 countries and territories; the market structure is increasingly diversified, and the type of rice exported has changed positively in the direction of increasing quality and high-added value and penetrating many premium rice markets.
According to the Vietnam Food Association, the export price of Vietnamese rice is equal to and higher than that of Thailand and India. In particular, on June 23, Vietnam's 5% broken rice was priced at $503 a ton, an increase of $5 a ton compared to the previous 10 days, equal to the price of Thailand's 5% broken rice and about $15 higher. one tonne compared to Indian rice of the same type.
At the regular press conference of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Nguyen Nhu Cuong, Director of the Department of Crop Production, informed that Vietnam's rice area currently maintains about 1.7 million hectares, ensuring the food needs of 100 million people in the country.
In 2022, exports will reach over 7 million tons, earning more than 4 billion USD. This is one of the remarkable results. VnBusiness quoted the Director of the Department of Crop Production as noting that the current development trend of Vietnam, especially urbanization and accelerated industrialization, will continue to narrow the rice area.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien noted that Vietnam has an area of 1.7 million hectares of rice land, but rice productivity is quite high, with export prices similar to India, higher than Thailand's.
Vietnam has developed high-quality rice products such as ST24, and ST25 and created many deeply processed products from this crop.
According to Deputy Minister Tien, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is working on a project involving 1 million hectares of high-quality rice and the reduction of environmental pollutants.
A representative of the Ministry of Agriculture added that this year, everyone was worried that a leap year would affect rice yield, but even the results were very good, averaging 67 quintals/ha in the first 6 months of this year.
According to the General Statistics Office, rice is one of the commodities with a high export growth rate in Vietnam.
In the first 6 months of 2023, rice exports are estimated at 2.3 billion USD, ranking third in export value in the group of agricultural products, up 22.2% in volume and 34.7% in value.
Along with commodities such as vegetables, fruits, coffee, and cashew nuts, rice exports are considered the mainstay for exporting agricultural and forestry products in the first six months of 2023, up 6.1% over the same period last year. , becoming the only commodity group with positive growth among the four export groups of Vietnam.
