The January-August rice export volume was 20.7% higher than the same period last year, Chairman of the Vietnam Food Association Nguyen Ngoc Nam said at a conference held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on September 22.

The rice export volume in the next four months is expected to reach 1.5-1.7 million tons, bringing the year’s total to 6.3-6.5 million tons, up 100,000-200,000 tons compared to last year.

The average export price was nearly US$500 per ton, down US$50 per ton compared to the same period last year.

The fragrant rice and high-quality rice ranked top among the exported rice varieties in 2021 and the first eight months of this year.

In 2021, Vietnam’s total rice export volume was 6.2 million tons, of which fragrant rice accounted for 2.5 million tons, above 40% of the total volume.

The high-quality white rice volume reached about 2.3 million tons, accounting for nearly 37.6%, while the export volume of sticky rice accounted for 16.37%.

According to the Vietnam Food Association, Asia has been the biggest buyer of Vietnam’s rice, with the rice volume accounting for above 50% of Vietnam’s total rice export volume.

In the first eight months of this year, the rice export volume to the Philippines accounted for nearly 2.4 million tons, earning Vietnam over US$1 billion, up 47% compared to the same period last year.

China ranks second among the largest importers of Vietnam’s rice. From January to August, Vietnam exported above 500,000 tons of rice to China with a value of nearly US$270 million, down 29% year-over-year.

Source: Saigon Times