VietNamNet Bridge – In an attempt to promote rice exports, Viet Nam will reduce its price in the world market and increase exports to China, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The ministry expects that Viet Nam will export 4.27 million tonnes of rice by May which is the total which is the total output of rice from the winter-spring crop this year.— File Photo

Thailand has sold 17-18 million tonnes of rice at a price of US$370-380 per tonne, while India and Myanmar have also cut their prices to compete with Thailand. In February, Viet Nam lost many contracts when it sold rice at $405-420 per tonne, said the Viet Nam Food Association (VFA).

To prevent this from happening again, from early this month, Vietnamese rice exporters have cut their price to $380 per tonne. This was the lowest it has reached after a record high at the end of 2013, the association said.

Though rice exporters will suffer losses due to the reduced price, their products can now compete with Thailand, India and Pakistan, it said.

The ministry expects that Viet Nam will export 4.27 million tonnes of rice by May which is the total which is the total output of rice from the winter-spring crop this year.

Meanwhile, the nation has signed export contracts of 1 million tonnes through May.

VFA Chairman Truong Thanh Phong said that this year, Thailand and India would sell rice at less expensive rates, so the export price of rice globally will be lower this year.

Since 2012, a government programme to purchase rice for a temporary stockpile did not work well, so VFA has proposed setting up a fund to support enterprises and farmers in the production and export of rice, Phong said. The Government has agreed to this proposal, and the fund is expected to begin operating in 2015.

The association has proposed that the Ministry of Industry and Trade and other relevant offices support these enterprises which want to export rice and, thereby, avoid reducing its price in the local market.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said one of the important solutions to hike rice exports this year was to increase its export to China via the border.

Last year, rice exports to China accounted for one-third of the total export volume of Vietnamese rice, he said. But, in the first two months of this year, the export volume to China via contracts had been reduced, while those sent via the border had increased to three times that level.

Source: VNS