Vietnam rice exports to Africa increase strongly

Vietnam’s rice exports to some African countries grew strongly last month but exports to ASEAN countries fell significantly.

According to Vietnam Customs, the nation in June shipped 120,000 tons of rice to Senegal, five times higher than in May.

Exports to Ivory Coast reached 64,000 tons, earning US$31.3 million, up almost ten times in volume and 11 times in value, while in Ghana they reached 20,100 tons and US$10.6 million, up 100% in volume and 104% in value.

Most of the shipments to Africa were low grade broken rice at an average of US$413 per ton.

In June, Vietnam signed a memorandum of understanding to ship the first 50,000 tons of a total 100,000 tons of rice to Sierra Leone.

Africa will be a key market for Vietnamese rice in the future as the Ministry of Industry and Trade deploys trade promotion activities.

According to the ministry, Africa buys between 15 and 20% of Vietnam’s total rice export volume. Nevertheless, Vietnamese rice makes up only 14% of Africa’s total demand.

Meanwhile, exports to ASEAN countries in June dropped significantly from the previous month.

Exports to the Philippines fell 44% to 174,600 tons, while shipments to Malaysia decreased 19.3% to 47,400 tons and the volume to Singapore fell 16.8% to 22,300 tons.

Indonesian officials held talks recently with Vietnam Southern Food Corporation (Vinafood 2), the nation’s largest exporter, on purchasing 400,000 to 600,000 tons of rice for delivery in the third quarter.

According to Reuters, Indonesia’s government has asked the State-owned food procurement agency Bulog to import more rice this year to keep healthy stock levels and Vietnamese rice was the top choice because Thai rice prices are still high.

Thai rice this week averages at between US$550 and US$555 per ton.

According to Vietnam Customs, the country shipped more than 660,000 tons of rice in June, earning US$321 million, up 3.7% in volume and 2.2% in value from the previous month.

From Jan–June, rice exports totaled four million tons with a turnover of nearly US$2 billion, up 16% in volume and 14% in value year-on-year.

Jul 23 2011

Source: vietnambusiness.asia