Rice export target set at 5.2 million tonnes in 2017

The Vietnam Food Association aims to ship 2 million tonnes of rice to foreign countries in the last five months of the year, increasing total rice export for the whole year to 5.2 million tonnes. (Photo: VNA)

HCM City (VNA) – The Vietnam Food Association (VFA) aims to ship 2 million tonnes of rice to foreign countries in the last five months of the year, increasing total rice export for the whole year to 5.2 million tonnes, up 6 percent year-on-year.

Vietnam exported an estimated 3.24 million tonnes of rice at FOB value of 1.4 billion USD in the past seven months, representing an increase of 11 percent in volume and 11.4 percent in value over the same period last year.

July alone saw 584,000 tonnes of rice sold abroad for more than 240 million USD, which was the highest monthly volume so far this year, with most of the rice shipped to China, Bangladesh and Africa.

China remains Vietnam’s top rice importer, accounting for 40.65 percent of the total rice export, followed by the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore. Shipments to Africa experienced a slight rise, making up 15.3 percent of the market share.

The VFA forecast that the global rice market will be led by high demand from Malaysia, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. However, large rice exporters like Thailand, India and Pakistan are entering their main crop harvest, which will affect the rice market in the coming time.