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Food traders say ‘no rush to export rice’
Local food traders at a meeting in HCMC on Thursday reached a consensus that there should be no rush to export rice in the first few months of the year to ensure maximum benefits for the country, anticipating steeply-rising global demands in the year’s second half.
Weather changes are damaging food crops around the world, stoking the demand for rice, so the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) said it would manage rice export in a flexible way this year.
That means VFA will scrutinize changes on the world’s rice market before deciding how much rice to sell, said the Association Chairman Truong Thanh Phong at the annual meeting of this association here on Thursday.
Food price crisis likely
At this meeting, many members spent time analyzing and evaluating the situation and demands of the global market, with several anticipating a food crisis in the coming months.
Unusual weather patterns in China will likely damage crops, while Indonesia is seen to boost rice stocks this year. In fact, prices of staple foods such as wheat, corn and rice in many countries are showing signs of steep increase, according to the association.
“This year, global rice prices can soar so Vietnam as the world's second-biggest rice exporter should consider a suitable approach. We need to choose the most suitable points of time to earn the most from the rice market and thereby, indirectly help farmers sell rice with higher prices,” said Cao Minh Lam, Director of An Giang Import-Export Joint Stock Company.
Lam also said that Vietnam's rice price is still lower than that in Thailand and Pakistan, so it is an advantage for Vietnam to attract buyers from the Philippines, Indonesia, and African countries. He also observed that these countries had not signed new contracts to buy rice from Vietnam, but were waiting until after the winter-spring rice harvest in a hope that prices will fall.
“This is a strategy that countries importing rice from Vietnam have been applying in recent years,” Lam said.
Orders expected in second half
Nguyen Thanh Ngoc, Director of Bac Lieu Food Company, noted that in 2010, the Philippines imported about 1.6 million tons of rice from Vietnam and they may purchase between 1.3 and 1.5 million tons this year. “Maybe the Philippines will start buying rice from Vietnam in quarters 3 or 4 this year,” he said.
Vietnam has not signed the new contract for second-quarter delivery, but according to VFA Chairman Truong Thanh Phong, Indonesia would likely purchase a large amount of rice from regional countries, having bought nearly 900,000 tons of Vietnam’s rice and 280,000 tons from Thailand in late 2010 and early this year.
“In the coming time, this country will continue to buy more rice from other countries in the region, possibly in June or July,” Phong said, adding that key exporters like Thailand, Pakistan would limit rice exports to ensure domestic food security.
Boosting local stocks
Currently, the provinces in the Mekong Delta are beginning to harvest the winter-spring crop, so VFA has plans to buy one million tons of rice to boost stocks and thus lift local prices. The time to buy rice is from March 1 to April 5 this year, and 60-65 enterprises will buy rice as instructed by VFA.
However, member companies of the VFA said that interest rates as high as 16-18% a year will make it difficult for enterprises to buy rice from farmers. So, they are petitioning the Government for a helping hand by offering subsidized loans to stock rice.
Last year, Vietnam shipped abroad 6.88 million tons of rice to earn US$3.23 billion, increasing 15.4% and 21.2% respectively against 2009.
vietnamnet, sgt
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