|
World demand for rice increases, but Vietnam doesn’t have rice to sell
Some countries are ready to purchase rice at high prices. However, Vietnamese exporters have no more rice to sell.
The demand for rice in the world market has been increasing rapidly towards the end of the year. Rice exporters, including Thailand, Pakistan and India have raised their export prices by at least 30 percent compared to previous month. However, at this moment, when the rice prices reach the highest level in the year, Vietnamese exporters do not have rice to sell.
Analysts said that if they had not rushed into exporting rice at low prices earlier this year and wait until the later months , they would made a huge profit. Now, when the world’s prices are increasing sharply, they ran out of rice to sell.
There is a high possibility that in November, Indonesia will need to purchase 200,000 tons of rice from Vietnam after to the failed negotiation with Thailand. Thai exporters have raised the rice prices to very high levels. The price of B-class 100-percent white rice has been raised to $505 per ton, while in September it was sold at $475 per ton only According to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), typhoon Megi, which has now moved over the Philippines, has severely damaged the crop in the country. Therefore, it is highly possible that the country will announce the bids in late November to import 500,000-600,000 tons of rice in mid December.
If this happens, i.e. the Philippines begin to import rice soon, the world market will see big changes, according to VFA. However, this will not benefit Vietnamese rice-exporters.
Also according to VFA, no new contract on rice export was signed in the last two weeks. It is partly because Vietnamese exporters hesitate to sign contracts, when the domestic rice price and export price fluctuate so heavily. Meanwhile, VFA has raised the floor export prices (i.e. the level below which exporters must not sell) by 10 dollar per ton to 445 dollar per ton (Applied to 25-percent broken rice) and to $475 per ton (5-percent broken rice).
To date, Vietnam has signed contracts to export 6.8 million tons of rice, of which 1.3 million tons have not been delivered.
The fact that no new export contract has been signed these days has had big impact on the domestic market. The price of summer-autumn and autumn-winter crop rice, which saw sharp increases in August and September, has remained stable at 5300-5600 dong per kilo, while long-grain unpolished rice remained at 7300-7500 dong per kilo.
Some small merchants, who collect rice from farmers to sell to export companies, say that at this momentthe latter are still seeking rice for purchase. Tran Thi Bong, a merchant in An Giang province, said these exporters are ready to purchase all the rice that merchants can provide. However, only well-off farmers, who have the means to store the rice, can still offer some for sale.
Huynh Minh Hue, VFA’s Secretary General has told export companies to think thoroughly before signing new contracts, or else, this may cause supply shortage on the domestic market.
Analysts believe that the domestic prices will remain stable until the end of the year, because exporters will only collect rice to fulfill the already signed contracts, and do not plan to sign new ones.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, if farmers sell the autumn-winter crop rice at over 5000 dong per kilo, they will makethe profit of over 30 percent.
vietnamnet, tbktsg
|
