How has MARD responded to the lowest price of Vietnamese rice in the last 12 years?

At a press conference by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) on the afternoon of October 14, representatives of the units attached to MARD answered questions by Customs Newspaper on Vietnam's export rice price, which was lower than India and Thailand, and was the lowest price in the past 12 years.

The rice export is expected to reach 6.5 million tons this year. Photo: Internet

Specifically, Nguyen Quoc Toan, from the Agricultural Products Processing and Market Development Department said the export price for 5-percent broken rice was US$330 per ton.

From the end of 2018, MARD has determined that this year, rice exports will face many difficulties in the market. The clear difficulty is that Vietnam’s largest export markets and traditional markets, especially China, Indonesia and Bangladesh all reduced imports. In particular, the Chinese market fell sharply in both volume and value.

“For the Chinese market, there are now more countries supplying rice to China. Vietnam must face other competitors. Besides, there are times China carries out stockpiling of rice. Moreover, some Vietnamese rice exporters to China have not yet achieved quality standards,” said Toan.

Tran Cong Thang, Director of the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development, said: In August and September, the rice price at the lowest rate was about US$325 per ton. At that time, the price of Thai rice was about US$350-360 per ton.

“China's rice inventory is significant. Recently, China has continued to discharge its inventory, causing difficulties. Besides, China has also carried out strict control of quality and diversified rice supply markets, typically Myanmar and Cambodia,” said Thang.

According to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien, this year, the global economic growth rate slowed down, so the demand for rice also decreased. At the same time, countries also try to be partially active. In addition, the technical barriers, criteria of food safety and traceability are also factors causing difficulties for Vietnamese goods.

"Some localities and units have not been met these factors even though the Ministry has guided and urged them, but the spread is not strong," Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said.

According to Nguyen Quoc Toan, rice is a traditional export product, which has to compete for change and development. To remove difficulties for rice exports, he proposed removing difficulties in exporting to China. Promotion of rice exports to other markets such as the Philippines and Africa are necessary.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong said that in the long term, the strategy is to reduce the area of ​​rice cultivation, and transfer to other cultivation and production that bring more efficiency.

"Currently, the research and management agencies are gathering comments. We maintain food security and suitable export volume. Regarding export markets, it is necessary to promote and expand markets in Africa, the Middle East, Indonesia and the Philippines," Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong said.

According to the Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development Department, the export volume of rice in the first nine months was estimated at 5.2 million tons and US$2.24 billion, up 5.9 percent in volume but down 9.8 percent in value compared to the same period of 2018. The Philippines currently ranks first in Vietnam's rice export market with more than 36 percent of market share.

In September, the export price of Indian rice increased thanks to the recovery of the rupee. The baht rebounded, stabilizing the price of Thai rice for nearly a year and making it more expensive than other Asian competitors.

Meanwhile, gloomy demand keeps Vietnam's rice prices at the lowest rate in the last twelve years. Price of 5-percent broken parboiled rice of India increased from US$366-374 per ton to US$373-379 per ton. Thailand 5-percent broken rice price decreased from US$410-422 per ton to US$400-418 per ton. Remarkably, Vietnam's 5-percent broken rice price decreased from US$325-330 per ton to US$325 per ton.