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Rice prices harden in Mekong Delta
Rice prices in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam’s rice bowl, have risen since the Vietnam Food Association instructed its members to buy one million tons of rice from farmers between March 1 and April 15 and stockpile the amount for three months.
In Long An Province’s Tan Thanh District, where the harvest has begun, wholesalers yesterday bought fresh paddy at VND4,500 (US$0.22) a kilogram and dried paddy at VND5,500 ($0.27), a VND300 ($0.01 cent) increase over last week.
In Tien Giang Province’s Ba Dac and Tan Binh wholesale rice markets, rice was bought for VND7,400-7,450, a VND200 rise.
The price hike is also partly due to exporters buying to ship the grain to Indonesia and Bangladesh this month, Nguyen Van Don, Director of Viet Hung company, said.
Harvest of the winter-spring crop is expected to gather pace by the end of this month and finish in late March, Pham Van Du, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Department of Crop Production, said.
In another development, VFA has announced a new price floor for 5 percent and 25 percent broken rice varieties.
For 5 percent broken rice, it is US$20 lower at $500 per ton while for the popular 25 percent variety, it is $18 lower at $480.
A trader complained it would be hard for exporters to sell rice at these prices because foreign buyers are demanding lower rates.
The VFA said recently that prices of 5 percent and 25 percent rice have been capped at $440 and $390 by foreign merchants who are taking advantage of the country’s sluggish exports.
Vietnam, the world's second-largest rice exporter behind Thailand, has set itself an initial export target of 5.5-6.1 million tons this year compared to last year’s record shipment of 6.83 million tons.
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