EU rice export value up handsomely

Rice exports to the EU in the first eleven months of 2021 rose 0.8 per cent in volume and an impressive 21.6 per cent in value over the same period of 2020. With stable and high demand, the EU will continue to be a rice export market of potential for Vietnamese enterprises.

According to the General Department of Customs, Vietnam's rice exports to the EU market in the 11 months of 2021 have not yet recorded a sharp increase in volume, but the export price and value have increased significantly with 53.91 thousand tons, worth 38.07 million USD, up 0.8% in volume but the value collected increased by 21.6% over the same period in 2020.

In the first 11 months of 2021, Vietnamese rice has been promoted to other markets in the EU such as Germany, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, and Belgium... and has yielded quite positive results.

The Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said that this result shows that businesses have effectively taken advantage of the Vietnam - EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) to increase the value of rice exports to Vietnam. EU, especially in the context of complicated disease developments, sea freight rates to Europe increased sharply and EU rice imports decreased this year.

The EU currently only accounts for a small proportion of Vietnam's total rice exports (accounting for 1% in volume and 1.3% in turnover), but this is a potential market for exporting high-value rice varieties.

In the first 11 months of 2021, Vietnam's fragrant rice exports to the EU reached 37.39 thousand tons, worth 26.82 million USD, up 9.3% in volume and 28.4% in value over the same period. term 2020.

The share of fragrant rice in Vietnam's total rice exports to the EU has also increased to 70% in the 11 months of this year from 64% in the same period in 2020.

Some specialty rice varieties of Vietnam such as ST24, ST25 were first exported to markets in the EU.

Meanwhile, with the exception of organic rice, dragon blood rice, etc., there was a sharp drop of 87% in export volume to the EU. Other types of rice all increased sharply, such as: white rice up 40.9%, Japanese rice varieties up 137.6%, sticky rice up 323.2%.

Notably, the price of Vietnamese rice exported to the EU market increased sharply compared to the first 11 months of 2020 such as: fragrant rice increased by 17.5%, reaching an average of 665 USD/ton; white rice by 41.8%; Japanese rice varieties increased by 7.5%, brown rice, organic rice, dragon blood rice... increased by 38.5%.

Diseases and rising sea freight rates may slow Vietnam's rice export growth to the EU in 2022

According to the analysis of the Import-Export Department, one of the reasons hindering the growth of Vietnamese rice exports to the EU market in recent years is because the EU tax rate on rice imported from Vietnam is quite high.

At the same time, Vietnam has not been granted a tariff quota by the EU, so it is difficult to compete with rice from other countries such as Thailand, the US, Australia, India, and Pakistan, which are allocated tariff quotas and less developed countries. such as Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar are exempt from tax and are not subject to quotas.

However, according to the commitment from the EVFTA Agreement, the EU gives Vietnam a quota of 80,000 tons of rice per year (including 30,000 tons of milled rice, 20,000 tons of unmilled rice and 30,000 tons of fragrant rice). In particular, the EU will completely liberalize broken rice. This commitment helps Vietnam to export an estimated 100,000 tons to the EU annually.

For rice products, the EU will bring the tax rate to 0% after 3-5 years. This has opened up an opportunity for Vietnamese rice to compete with other countries when exporting to the EU.

"With stable demand, especially high demand for specialty rice from Asia, in the coming time, the EU will continue to be a potential rice export market for Vietnamese businesses." The Import-Export Department said.

However, the Ministry of Industry and Trade also said that in 2022, the epidemic is still complicated in Europe, sea freight rates will remain high ... can make exploiting the advantages of EVFTA to promote rice exports to the EU market in difficulty.