Opportunities to increase rice exports

Meeting with his counterpart Srettha Thavisin during the ASEAN-Japan Summit on December 17th in Tokyo, Japan, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh agreed that Vietnam and Thailand would soon aim to achieve the target of 25 billion USD in bilateral trade.

The two countries also introduced policies to further facilitate the goods market and increase cooperation in areas of strength such as rice exports.

Thailand is currently Vietnam's largest trading partner in ASEAN, with import and export turnover reaching US$21.5 billion last year. It is also the ninth largest foreign investor in Vietnam.

Rice was also a commodity that Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos agreed to increase cooperation on in the coming time, during their meeting on the sidelines of the 50th ASEAN-Japan Summit. This aims to ensure regional and global food security.

Rice exports reached a record high in 2023.

According to data from the General Department of Customs, Vietnam's rice exports in the first 11 months of 2023 reached 7.8 million tons, with a value of 4.4 billion USD. This is a record figure, the highest in the last 34 years, and is expected to continue to increase in the future.

Vietnam's number one market for rice is the Philippines, currently accounting for approximately 35% of its rice export market share. In the first 11 months of 2023, rice exports to this country reached 2.63 million tons, equivalent to $1.41 billion. Following closely behind are Indonesia, China, and African countries.

Vietnam's export rice prices have been relatively volatile since 2021. Specifically, at the beginning of 2021, the price reached $550 per ton, but by mid-2022, it had fallen to close to $460 per ton, before surging dramatically in 2023. The highest export rice price was recorded in October 2023, reaching $640 per ton.

Notably, the proportion of high-quality rice varieties in Vietnam increased from 50% in 2015 to 74% in 2020 and currently stands at 85%. Rice export volume has remained at 6 million tons and shows a growth trend over the years, with export value consistently exceeding US$3 billion annually.

At the beginning of 2023, Vietnam's target was to export approximately 7 million tons of rice (equivalent to 7.1 million tons in 2022), but by the end of November, it had already reached 7.8 million tons. Many forecasts suggest that the total rice exports for the year will reach a historic 8 million tons, worth at least 4.6 billion USD.

According to Mr. Do Ha Nam, Vice President of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), rice prices have been exceptionally good this year, leading farmers to plant early for the 2023-2024 Winter-Spring rice crop. Although inventory is low, there is still some remaining.

On the other hand, many suppliers and businesses that bought at high prices have not been able to export their rice and therefore still have inventory. Rice from Cambodia is still being purchased by traders, so inventory remains, although not high.

Mr. Do Ha Nam emphasized: "2023 can be said to be a very successful year for the rice industry, and the year in which the Vietnamese rice industry set two new records: firstly, the export price of Vietnamese rice reached an unprecedented high in the history of the industry. Secondly, the export volume of rice reached a peak of 8 million tons. This is the first year that Vietnam has exported 8 million tons."

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