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Rice exports drop 9.1% in H1
Since the beginning of the year, Viet Nam rice exports have dropped 9.1 per cent in volume against the same period last year.
The Viet Nam Food Association (VFA) has announced a total of 3.3 million tonnes of rice valued at US$1.4 billion have been exported this year.
Despite anticipated negative annual growth, Viet Nam is expected to export 1.6 million tonnes of rice in Q3, 300,000 tonnes higher than the same period last year.
Paradoxically, the association's general secretary Huynh Minh Hue said sales and export growth of rice in Q3 would be sluggish due to lower prices and high levels of rice stock. He also predicted global demand for rice would continue to decline in the coming months because countries importing rice would do so only for domestic consumption.
Domestic farmers have planned to harvest their summer-autumn crop in July and August, adding to the traders stocks which currently stand at 1.8 million tonnes.
Internationally, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations forecast world rice output to increase by 4 per cent over 2010-11, creating pressure on future prices.
To address this, Hue said the Government should continue to issue loans with preferential interest rates for rice traders. With these favourable conditions, they could purchase rice harvested from the summer-autumn crop over the next two months and maintain price stability.
In June, Asia and Africa were the main export markets of Vietnamese rice, accounting for 56 and 33.6 per cent of the total rice export volume, respectively.
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