Rice Prices Predicted to Rise By 11 per cent This Year
Sharp decrease in production and expected high export demand are forecast to push prices of rice up more than 11 per cent this year from 2006 to some VND2,900 (18 US cents) per kilo, according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Trade.
“Rice exports in 2007 will have all the advantages of market demand and prices,” the ministry said in a report posted on its website on January 22.
The report said paddy output from the key winter-spring crop in the rice basket Mekong Delta region was expected to total 8.8-9 million tons, 200,000 tons less than last year, mainly due to pests and adverse weather including an expected drought.
The ministry forecast demand from Vietnam’s key rice buyers the Philippines and Indonesia would remain strong at 1.85 million tons and 1.8 million tons, respectively.
Last week, Vietnam announced an initial rice export target of around 4-4.5 million tons for 2007, nearly 16 per cent less than the amount shipped last year.
As of January 15, Vietnamese enterprises had signed contracts to export a total of 1.6 million tons of rice, according to the Vietnam Food Association (Vietfood).
“All the contracts were signed by state-owned companies based in the Mekong delta region,” said an official from the association. (Young People, MoT)
Vietnamese
