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PM calls on firms to buy more rice to stabilise price
The Prime Minister directed enterprises to purchase 1 million tonnes of rice from the 2010 summer-autumn crop to maintain price stability in the domestic market.
According to the June 30 directive, the Ministry of Industry and Trade will work with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Viet Nam Food Association (VFA) to organise rice purchases from July 15 to September 15.
Those enterprises which are eligible to purchase rice under the scheme will have the opportunity to take out interest free loans to buy the rice according to market rules.
The State Bank of Viet Nam will select the commercial banks that will provide the loans.
In the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, the price for paddy was VND4,000-4,100 per kilo this week, said the VFA. The price for raw rice ranged from VND5,500 and VND5,750 per kilo while the price for processed rice was between VND5,510 and VND6,600 per kilo.
In March and April 2010, the Government directed 30 companies to purchase 1 million tonnes of rice from the 2009-10 winter-spring crop.
The VFA announced that a total of 3.3 million tonnes of rice valued at US$1.4 billion were exported in the first half of this year. Estimates indicate that 1.6 million tonnes of rice will be exported in the third quarter, 300,000 tonnes more than the same period last year.
Meanwhile, 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 supply.
He also predicted global demand for rice would continue to decline in the coming months because countries importing rice did so only for domestic consumption.
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