Rice exports down in volume but up in value

HCMC – Vietnam’s rice exports will gradually decrease in the years to come, according to a rice export market development strategy in 2017-2020 with a vision towards 2030.

The strategy, just approved by the Prime Minister, puts rice exports at 4.5-5 million tons worth US$2.3 billion by 2020 and four million tons worth US$2.5 billion by 2030.

Vietnam will focus on Asian and African markets in which China, Bangladesh and ASEAN countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia will remain key importers of Vietnamese rice.

Meanwhile, the targets for choosy markets such as Japan and South Korea are modest. The sector will strive to raise the proportion of Vietnamese rice in total rice imports of these countries from 2% by 2015 to 3% by 2020 and 4-5% by 2030.

High-quality rice from Vietnam accounted for only 2% of rice imports of European countries in 2015. However, the ratio is projected to grow to 4% by 2020 and 6% by 2030.

The country also plans to ship high-quality rice to most markets from 2020. Therefore, rice export volume will be 0.5-1 million tons less than the current four million tons, but the sector can earn US$2.5 billion a year, up from US$2.2-2.3 billion in 2017-2020.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has organized many conferences to collect input from rice exporting enterprises and gauge the demand for rice and trends in the future.

At a seminar on rice export market development held in HCMC last year, Huynh The Nang, chairman of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), said Vietnam should offer high-quality rice to satisfy the demand of consumers.

Vietnam should export less rice, at 2-3 million tons per year.

In 2012, rice exports hit a record of 8.1 million tons worth US$3.7 billion and the number has since slipped to about six million a year. The VFA has forecast that 5.7 million tons of rice will be exported this year.