VNExpress-Aug 6
There is stronger global demand for Vietnamese rice after India, the UAE and Russia banned exports, but it first has to ensure its own food security, experts said.
Within over a week, the three announced they were stopping exports of the grain. This sent the price of Vietnamese 5% broken rice surging by 48% year-on-year on July 31 to US$575 a ton. It is forecast to rise to $600 in August. Domestic retail prices rose by VND1,000-2,000 ($4-8 cents) per kilogram. The Vietnam Food Association said importers in other countries are insistently asking Vietnamese businesses to ship rice, and are willing to pay $20-40 per ton more than the pre-ban prices. China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Turkey, and Chile are reportedly competing to buy 40% to several dozen times more rice than previously from Vietnam.Vietnam’s exports could reach 7.5 million tons, 6% higher than last year. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has sought government approval to increase exports. According to the ministry, the El Nino phenomenon, saltwater intrusion and drought has affected global production, but not in Vietnam, where output this year is expected to top 43 million tons. But the director of a rice export company in the southern Hau Giang province said this year El Nino and flooding have affected some rice-growing areas in the Mekong Delta. The heavy rains brought by Typhoon Talim recently destroyed 3,000 hectares of ripe summer-autumn rice. He assumed output would decrease, and said prices could spike. According to many exporters, the number of new orders increased by 20-30% compared to the previous month, but they did not dare sign new contracts because they are worried about fulfilling existing orders after prices shot up. Dinh Ngoc Tam, deputy general director of Co May Company, explained that most exporters had signed contracts when rice prices were low, and the soaring prices now mean higher purchase costs for them, which threaten to cause them losses on exports. Read more at: https://e.vnexpress.net/news/business/industries/export-demand-should-not-jeopardize-vietnam-food-security-experts-4637801.html
