According to preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs, last October, our country exported 0.8 million tons of rice, earning 505 million USD. Compared to the same period last year, the volume of exported rice increased by 29% and the value increased by 27.2%.

In the first 10 months of 2024, Vietnam exported nearly 7.8 million tons of rice, worth nearly 4.86 billion USD - a record high. The volume of exported rice increased by 10.2% and the value increased by 23.4% compared to the same period in 2023.

However, Vietnam's rice imports have also increased sharply. In the past 10 months, Vietnamese businesses have spent nearly 1.2 billion USD to import this item, an increase of 72.9% compared to the same period last year.

Notably, in October 2024 alone, the value of rice imports jumped to 148 million USD, an increase of 225%, equivalent to nearly 3.3 times compared to October 2023.

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Vietnam's rice exports set a historic record, but rice imports also increased dramatically. Photo: Tam An

Experts from the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) said that the domestic demand for low-grade rice is increasing, while Vietnam is pursuing a program to restructure the rice industry towards increasing the area of ​​high-quality rice varieties, so finding new sources of cheap goods to import is understandable.

Accordingly, imported rice is mainly cheap broken rice from India used to make cakes, vermicelli, food and animal feed... In addition, Vietnamese enterprises also import rice from Cambodia, Myanmar, Pakistan at lower prices than domestic rice.

Notably, the price of rice in the world market is plummeting, reaching rock bottom, so businesses are taking advantage of the situation to boost imports. This is also part of the reason for the sudden increase in rice import turnover in October.

Data from VFA shows that at the end of the trading session on October 30, the export price of 5% broken rice from Vietnam was at 524 USD/ton, while the same type of rice from Thailand and Pakistan decreased to 486 USD/ton and 461 USD/ton, respectively.

Notably, after India removed the export floor price, the price of 5% broken rice in this country immediately plummeted to only 444 USD/ton.

Currently, the price of 5% broken rice from the world's top four exporting countries, India, Thailand, Vietnam and Pakistan, has all hit a one-year low.

Prices of 25% and 100% broken rice from Thailand, India, and Pakistan also decreased sharply and were lower than the same type of rice from Vietnam by 6-72 USD/ton.

For the first time in history, Vietnam spent 1 billion USD to import rice . In just 9 months, the value of rice imports reached 1 billion USD. This is also the first time in history that Vietnam's rice import turnover has reached the billion USD mark.