Rice exports to Russia shoots up 700%

In the period, the country raked in US$1.1 billion from shipping nearly 2.4 million tonnes of rice abroad, up 1.1% in quantity and 0.2% in revenue from the same time last year.

The country saw a robust growth in the rice shipment to China - its largest rice consumption market. Nearly 1.1 million tonnes of rice were sold in the country at US$488 million, up 33.6% in volume and 31% in value. The amount accounted for 46% of the country’s total rice exports.

Expansion in Vietnamese rice exports was also seen in the Philippines and some European countries like Ukraine, Belgium and France.

However, the country’s rice shipments experienced steep fall from 40-99% in Hong Kong (China), Taiwan (China), Indonesia, Poland and Turkey.

The price of Vietnamese export rice has hit a three-year high thanks to the rising import demands and the restricted supply source.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the demand for Vietnam’s 5% broken rice, has been rising, hitting US$390 per tonne in the early days of June, against US$360 per tonne to US$380 per tonne in late May.

This is the highest price since December 2014, the ministry said, attributing it to the rising global demand for rice imports, especially in the Asian region.

The export price rise has also caused the paddy price in the domestic market to soar. A tonne of 5% broken rice in the domestic market stood between VND7.65 million (US$340) and VND7.75 million in early June, up VND550,000 (US$24) per tonne against last month.

The global rice market has been heating up after top importing countries, such as Bangladesh and the Philippines, announced to import roughly 950,000 tonnes of rice recently.

Experts have forecast that the global rice price will increase by roughly US$20 per tonne in the next three months.

They have advised rice exporting enterprises to not sell the crop in a hurry, hoping that the price of 5% broken rice would increase to at least US$400 per tonne.