Vietnam's rice exports may reach 7 million tons again

The first time Vietnam's rice exports reached over 7 million tons was in 2011. That year, Vietnam exported 7.112 million tons of rice worth US$ 3.7 billion. By 2012, the amount of rice exported increased sharply to 8 million tons. But due to the decrease in world rice prices, the export value was still equivalent to 2011.

After 2012, Vietnam's rice exports fell below 7 million tons, and even in 2016, the amount of rice exported was less than 5 million tons. In recent years, rice exports have remained at over 6 million tons per year.

This year, Vietnam's rice exports will likely return to 7 million tons. Information from the General Department of Customs shows that, from the beginning of the year to mid-November, Vietnam exported 6.35 million tons of rice, worth US$ 3 billion. Some rice traders forecast, with 1.5 months remaining, rice exports this year could ultimately return to 7 million tons.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also said that if in the last two months of the year, only 600,000 tons of rice can be exported each month, it is estimated that this year will export 7.2-7.3 million tons of rice. This is the second-highest rice export volume in Vietnam's rice industry since 2012.

In the last months of 2022, Vietnam's rice exports are pretty active. In October, Vietnam exported 713,546 tons of rice (up 22% compared to September), with a value of more than US$ 341 million (up 24%). With the above export volume, October 2022 has become the month with a record-high rice export volume in the history of Vietnam's rice exports.

The demand for rice imports from many markets in the last months of the year is increasing while the supply is limited by adverse weather in some rice-growing countries. Significantly after India restricted rice exports from September 2022 until now, many partners have turned to other markets, including Vietnam. These factors are creating opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises to boost rice exports in the last months of this year.

Not only increase sharply in volume, but the price of Vietnam's rice exports also increased quite a lot in the last months of the year, in which there was a significant impact from India's restriction on rice exports. Since the Indian Government adjusted its rice export policy, the price of Vietnamese rice has increased by more than US$ 30 per ton.

In October, Vietnam's 5% broken rice price was US$ 425-430 per ton, the highest level since November 2022. This price is US$ 48-51 per ton higher than in India and US$ 18-23 per ton higher than in Thailand. With the increasing import demand in the world market, Vietnamese rice traders believe the upward price trend will last soon. The high price of Vietnamese rice will last until December 2022.

The Philippines, China and Ivory Coast are the three largest markets for Vietnamese rice. In the first 10 months of this year, the Philippines was still number one in Vietnam's rice consumption market, accounting for 45% of the total volume and 43% of the country's total export turnover. Followed by the Chinese market, accounting for nearly 13% of the total volume with a turnover of almost US$ 383 million, Ivory Coast imported about 600,000 tons of rice, with about US$ 265 million.

Long An is Vietnam's leading rice-exporting province, accounting for about 10% of the country's rice exports.

According to the Department of Industry and Trade of Long An province, due to many unfavorable factors, this situation's rice exports decreased in both volume and value in the first half of this year.

However, with the exciting developments of Vietnam's rice export activities in the last months of the year, rice exports of enterprises in Long An are also prospering again. It is forecasted that by the end of 2022, Long An will export about 800,000 tons of rice, worth US$ 408 million, up 10.86% in output, up 20.5% in turnover compared to 2021.

Long An currently has 25 traders who can export rice directly, of which 3 traders can export directly to China. Long An's rice is mainly exported to China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, and some fastidious markets such as the EU, USA, Canada.