Mekong Delta has some 2.5 million tons of rice left for export

With the local rice demand taken into account, the Mekong Delta region has some 2.5 million tons of rice left in November and December that can be exported.

Farmers harvest rice in the Mekong Delta, the country's key rice growing area. – SGT Photo: Trung Chanh

Of the total rice output of 3.1 million tons in the region over the November-December period, 601,000 tons has been set aside for local consumption, Le Thanh Tung, deputy head of the Department of Crop Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said in a recent report.

As such, the remainder of some 2.5 million tons of rice can be processed for export, Tung added.

In November, the rice volume left over is one million tons, while December will see some 1.4 million tons of rice left.

In the first quarter of 2022, the Mekong Delta will produce some 10.3 million tons of rice. After the balance of domestic consumption, over 9.6 million tons will be left to serve the processing and export activities.

Between January and October, Vietnam exported 5.2 million tons of rice worth US$2.7 billion, down 3.1% in volume but up 3.7% in value year-on-year, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

Pham Thai Binh, director of Trung An Hi-Tech Farming JSC, forecast that the country’s rice export this year would amount to at least six million tons.