Rice export values in the first eight months hit a total of USD2.2 billion, up 10.4% on-year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Vietnam exported a total of 4.5 million tonnes of rice worth USD2.2 billion between January and August this year, down 1.7% in volume due to the Covid-19 pandemic but up 10.4% in value on-year, including 500,000 tonnes in August.

The rice harvest in the Mekong Delta region

White rice accounts for 45.2% of the country’s total rice export during the period, followed by Jasmine rice with 36.6%, glutinous rice with 13.7% and Japonica and Japanese rice with 4.5%.

The export price of the Vietnamese broken rice reached USD480-490 per tonne, the highest level since late 2011. Indian and Thai broken rice exports were USD383-389 and USD480-500 per tonne respectively.

By late August, paddy prices in the Mekong Delta region sharply increased by VND100-500 per kilo against the previous month. In An Giang Province, each kilo of Jasmine paddy cost VND6,100-6,300 and VND5,950-6,200 for the IR5451 paddy variety.

Vietnam as the world’s third-largest rice exporter is likely to export around seven million tonnes this year.

Vietnam News Agency cited Nguyen Van Dong, director of Viet Hung rice milling, processing and trading company as saying that one of the reasons for Vietnam’s higher rice export prices was that the Thai Baht had gained against the US dollar, disadvantaging Thai exports, which together with a shortage of supply of 5% broken rice in the market pushed up the price.

An important factor was that the quality of Vietnamese rice had improved significantly, he said.

According to Phạm Thai Binh, director of Trung An Hi-Tech Agriculture Joint Stock Company, Can Tho City, the European Union Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) was also benefiting Vietnam’s rice exports.