‘Rice price increases due to hoarding’: Trade minister

Ministry of Industry and Trade while addressing a press meeting said that the exporters were racing to purchase rice due to the rumors that Vietnam has signed deals to export 500,000 tonnes of rice to Indonesia and Malaysia.
Rice market this year is showing unpredictable movements in the last months because Vietnam’s largest rice importer Philippines modified policy of privatizing import activities. By August 23, the country’s rice export reached 4.982 million tonnes for $2.361 billion, increasing 11.4% in volume and 22.26% in value compared with the same period of 2010.

Truong Thanh Phong, General Director of Southern Food Corp cum Chairman of Vietnam Food Association said that Vietnam’s rice and paddy prices are fairly high. Vietnam’s export price of this commodity stays at $560 per tonne, $25-30 higher than Thailand’s. Due to the high prices, Indonesia shifted to import rice from Thailand for which Vietnam lost the contract of 300,000 tonnes of rice.

Increasing export price led to a higher domestic price that averages at 11,500 dong per kilogram, dry paddy fluctuates at 6,900-7,000 dong per kg, up 400 dong against the month early.

According to Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien, some individuals used inaccurate information related to Thailand’s new rice price support policy to make exporters worried. Actually, the policy will be applied from this November, which may affect to Vietnam’s domestic rice price.

In April, the rice export increased 5% year on year but then fell 1% and 0.4% respectively, and surged 12% again in July. Rice volume for export in the whole year will reach 8 million tonnes. “If including stored and reserved volume of 1.3 million tonnes, rice is enough to meet the export demand in the rest of 2011 and beginning of 2012…”, he noted.

Since the month early, many kinds of rice in HCM City and Hanoi increased continuously, the sharpest increase phase from the start of 2011.

(US$1 = 20,830.00 dong)

Tags: Vietnam rice, Vietnam Rice prices

Posted by VBN on Aug 25 2011. Filed under Agriculture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry