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Farm produce prices plunging, furrowing farmers’ brows
The prices of farm produce, including rubber, coffee, cashew nuts and rice, have been decreasing dramatically. Especially, the price of rubber has dropped by 50%.
Latex stopped because of price decreases
According to Nguyen Xuan Vinh, the owner of a 40 ha rubber farm in Binh Phuoc province, in previous years the rubber price rose to VND57mil/tonne in July, while it is now VND28mil/tonne only.
Vinh said that previously, he could get the turnover of some VND20mil a day, while he now earns VND5mil only. “I will stop harvesting latex for a time because the money from latex sales is not enough to pay to workers,” he said.
Though wholesalers have been trying to force prices down, farmers still have to sell latex as it is now the high harvest season. Dieu Thanh, the owner of over 30 ha of rubber in Phuoc Long district in Binh Phuoc province, complained that petty merchants are only paying VND26mil/tonne, saying that the demand for rubber from China is not big.
Ho Van Huu, Director of the Binh Phuoc Industry and Trade Department, said that the rubber latex price has dropped by 50% due to oversupply and small demand. However, Huu said that farmers still can make profit with the price levels.
The director of a rubber company in Binh Duong province said that the rubber price has been decreasing dramatically because of massive sales. Moreover, as the world’s economy has entered a recession, the car market has become quiet, thus the demand for rubber to make tyres has also decreased. Analysts have forecast that rubber prices will fall further.
Mekong River Delta: enterprises stop purchasing rice
The director of a rice export company in the southern province of Long An on October 20, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the rice market in the Mekong River Delta is now nearly frozen. Most rice companies have not purchased rice for a week as they have big stocks already that they still cannot sell because clients are offering only very low purchase prices.
“However, we may have to sell at a loss to clear the stocks and get money to prepare for the purchase of winter-spring crop rice,” he said.
Meanwhile, some rice exporters said they would incur the loss of VND1,500/kg if they exported at $400/tonne.
Tra fish prices have been decreasing even though the fish volume left among farmers is small, with a kilogramme selling at VND15,300-16,000/kg. Duong Ngoc Minh, General Director of Tien Giang-based Hung Vuong Company, said that the global economic recession has put big difficulties on seafood export companies, forcing them to reduce their capacities.
VNN
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