Tien Giang rice market faces glut as exports stalled

Farmers harvest rice in the Mekong Delta - PHOTO: TRUNG CHANH

CAN THO – The Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang, alongside some neighboring localities, is looking for solutions to ease the glut in the local rice market as export deals, especially for China-bound shipments, have almost come to a halt, heard a meeting in the province yesterday, February 22.

At the meeting  on the consumption of rice from the 2018-2019 winter-spring crop for farmers in Tien Giang Province, Doan Van Phuong, director of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, said the province had exported some 6,800 tons of rice at US$3.5 million in the year to date, plunging 80.56% in volume and 72.58% in value over the same period last year.

According to Nguyen Van Don, director of Viet Hung Co., Ltd as a local rice exporter, the company faced many difficulties with exports in the first two months of the year. In the same period last year, his company signed a contract to ship 20,000 tons of rice to China, but no contracts have been signed in recent months, Don said.

Chinese importers have consigned the Plant Protection Department, under the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, to inspect 20 local enterprises entitled to export rice to China over quality requirements. The department has completed the inspection, but its results have yet to be announced.

Phuong stated that only two companies in the province were allowed to export rice to China: Viet Hung Co., Ltd, and Tien Giang Food Company. Enterprises exporting rice to the northern neighbor must meet certain requirements on product quality and safety and material origins, he said.

At the meeting, Tien Giang Vice Chairman Pham Anh Tuan advised enterprises to purchase rice for storage while waiting for the Government’s directions.

On February 26, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will hold another meeting with the relevant ministries and agencies and Dong Thap Province to find solutions for boosting rice consumption from the 2018-2019 winter-spring crop.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on February 19 approved a proposal to purchase 80,000 tons of unhusked rice and 200,000 tons of rice from farmers for storage to cope with the sharp drop in the price of rice in the Mekong Delta region.