Vietnam will export a total volume of seven million tons of rice in 2010, up one million tons from earlier planned, and the previous year, according to Chairman of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) Truong Thanh Phong.
VFA will set no limit on rice export volume by the year-end to encourage local firms to ship as much rice as possible, the chairman said at a meeting to implement the upcoming summer-autumn crop in An Giang province on June 3.
To ensure the stable rice export, firms should give priority to traditional markets, particularly the Philippines, the biggest purchaser of Vietnamese rice, Phong instructed.
Vietnamese firms signed contracts to export 622,119 tons of rice more in May, raising the total export volume under already-signed contracts to 4.549 million tons.
The firms delivered 2.689 million tons in the first five months, earning US$1.221 billion, FOB, or US$1.382 billion, CIF. Vietnamese rice was selling for US$454.03/ton in the Jan-May period, up US$42.54/ton from a year earlier, the chairman said.
Firms will ship around 700,000 tons more in June, bringing the six-month export volume to 3.35 million tons, down 300,000 tons on-year, he added.
Regarding the consumption of summer-autumn rice in the Mekong Delta region, the chairman said the association will offer the rice for VND4,000/kg at minimum, equal to the prices set for the winter-spring rice.
Farmers in the region expect to harvest nearly eight million tons of unhusked rice from a total cultivated area of 1.74 million hectares in this summer-autumn crop, which will end late June or early July, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. (Vietnam Agriculture)
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