China sharply reduces imports of rice and pepper from Vietnam, why?

Except for rice and pepper, many Vietnamese agricultural products are heavily purchased by China, especially vegetables and fruits - Photo: THAO THUONG

According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development , many items reached more than a billion dollars in the first 7 months of 2024 when exported to China, such as vegetables and fruits reaching 2.5 billion USD. However, rice and pepper plummeted, down more than 68% and 85% respectively compared to the same period last year.

Tighten rice grain quality

On August 14, speaking with Tuoi Tre Online , Mr. Nguyen Van Than (HCMC), an intermediary specializing in purchasing rice for export, with 80% of his orders exported to China, explained: China has raised its standards for rice quality compared to before. From fragrant rice, premium rice, ST24 rice... all are very strict about quality and packaging design. As for processed rice, China only imports cheap rice in large quantities. Its export enterprises rarely "sell" this type of rice to China, so it is difficult to compete with rivals in other countries.

Meanwhile, a rice factory owner in An Giang province explained that China is in the top 5 rice export markets of Vietnam, and was the main market for Vietnamese rice only in the period 2010 - 2018.

"During this period, Vietnamese rice sold to China has emerged strongly, surpassing the Philippines, Cuba, and Indonesia. However, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in China has a strict quarantine program for imported rice and increased consumption of domestic agricultural products," said the owner of this rice factory.

In the list, there are more than 200 rice exporting enterprises in Vietnam. In the Chinese market alone, previously there were only 20 exporting enterprises with "passports" in this market, now there are 22 enterprises.

Looking at this angle, the owner of this rice factory further explained: "After 1-2 years, these 22 enterprises were re-evaluated by China when they were put under technical barriers, meaning that exporting enterprises were restricted. Furthermore, China only uses ST21 rice, fragrant rice, glutinous rice for making cakes, rice with good expansion like 504 rice. Vietnamese enterprises account for 80-90% of fragrant rice sales, so this market has no demand."

Explaining further, according to a leader of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), China's food import structure is also affected by China's rice import quota not changing much over the years (still importing more than 2.6 million tons/year). On the other hand, there is a lot of high-quality rice on the market, so China focuses on eye-catching packaging, specifically Thai rice packaging is rated higher than Vietnamese rice packaging.

Chinese pepper prices are low

Regarding pepper, according to the Vietnam Pepper and Spices Association (VPSA), China used to be Vietnam's second largest pepper export market, but has now dropped to fifth place after the US, Germany, India and the UAE.

Some exporters said the main reason is that domestic pepper prices in China are lower than imported goods; people's spending needs have decreased and inventories are still sufficient.

"In addition, Vietnamese export enterprises are focusing on producing white peppercorns for export to the US and EU markets because of the good prices; while exporting to China, the prices are low and unofficial pepper exports are being tightened," said a pepper export enterprise.

Agricultural, forestry and fishery exports to China in 7 months reached over 7 billion USD

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the first 7 months of 2024, agricultural, forestry and fishery exports to the Chinese market reached more than 7 billion USD, up 11.3% over the same period last year. After the US, China is the second largest market, accounting for 20.5% of the total export turnover of the entire agricultural sector.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/trung-quoc-giam-manh-nhap-khau-gao-va-hat-tieu-viet-nam-vi-sao-20240814122426565.htm