Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The price of Vietnam’s export rice has beenincreasing since mid-July, surpassing the prices of other rice exportersthanks to improved quality.

According to a representative of the Import and Export Department from theMinistry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Vietnamese export rice currently sellsfor about 495 USD per tonne, adding: “It is a pretty good price that positivelyaffects Vietnam’s rice exports.” 

“Not only the 5 percent broken rice but many other exported rice varieties of Vietnam such as DT8 and 5451 have sold with good prices despite thefluctuations in the market, which helps to contribute to improving the riceexport value of Vietnam," the representative said.

He said the price increase had come about due to improved quality andtechnology in rice farming.

“Vietnam’s rice export structure has been gradually shifting to highvalue-added rice such as fragrant rice, which accounts for 27.15 percentof total exports, japonica rice accounts for 3.39 percent and stickyrice accounts for 9.26 percent," he added.

In the first 10 months of 2020, Vietnamese rice prices for export averaged 493USD per tonne, up 12.7 percent over the same time last year.

“The baht of Thai and the rupee of India are on a downward trend against the USdollar, helping to reduce the price of rice exports from Thailand and India,while the Vietnamese dong is relatively stable," the MoIT’s representativesaid.

At the same time, there is still import demand from countries affected byfloods and natural disasters at this time of year, so the price of export riceis expected to remain stable until the end of the year.

As for the quality of the rice, the MoIT’s representative said the Vietnam-EUFree Trade Agreement (EVFTA) which came into force and the recently signedRegional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) would encourage Vietnamesebusinesses to re-organise their manufacturing, processing, and improving productquality to meet the strict regulations of difficult markets. 

“To take advantage of tariff preferences, local rice producers will improvecompetitiveness to boost exports to the EU and RCEP market areas," hesaid.

The representative said to meet higher demand from markets such as the EU, theRepublic of Korea, and the United States, Vietnamese rice exporters have beenincreasingly focusing on improving quality and traceability, adding: “It'sone of the factors that has helped to improve the competitiveness of Vietnameserice grains.”

According to data from the ministry, trade promotion, linking riceconsumption among farmers, agricultural restructuring and building anddeveloping rice brands have resulted in a better export market response.

Also to improve the quality of rice, many firms have built and developed rawmaterial areas and applied food safety and quality management models intheir production.

The representative of MoIT said: “In the long term, other agricultural productsmust follow the direction of getting market signals to guide the planning andre-organisation of production,” adding: “They need to strengthen the valuechain from production to consumption.”

According to the MoIT’s strategy, from 2021 to 2030, the annual exportvolume of Vietnamese rice is hoped to be about 4 million tonnes and worthbetween 2.3 billion USD and 2.5 billion USD.

The strategy aims to increase exports of rice directly to marketsand directly to the rice distribution systems of other countries./.