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Reserve rice may be used to beat hikes
National reserves of rice may be tapped into to reduce the price on the domestic market, which has soared over the last few weeks due to increasing export demand, a deputy minister of agriculture and rural development said.
Diep Kinh Tan said about 1 million tonnes of rice held in reserve could be released onto the market if necessary to reduce the local price.
However, so far, the rice price has not risen excessively, he said.
Over the last two weeks, the price of processed five-per cent broken rice for export has increased by roughly 10 per cent to US$538-$543 per tonne, while 15 per cent broken rice now costs $514-$519 per tonne.
Southern Food Corporation (Vinafood 2) has signed contracts to export 300,000 tonnes to Indonesia at a price of $550 per tonne. Meanwhile, rice exports to Thailand have also increased.
The price is expected to continue rising, even though Viet Nam has increased production by 4 per cent this year to 41.6 million tonnes against last year, Tan said.
Viet Nam Food Association said the price increase was due to increasing exports.
Meanwhile, the price of exported Vietnamese rise has surged to $568 per tonne (5 per cent broken rice) and $530 per tonne (15 per cent broken rice).
The high export price is expected to remain until the first quarter of 2012, depending on the price of Thai rice and the amount of rice India agrees to export, the association said.
By August 18, Viet Nam had exported 4.87 million tonnes of rice, worth $2.3 billion. Of that total, 4.1 million tonnes came from the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta.
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