In October, Việt Nam's rice exports reached 700,000 tonnes, earning US$433 million. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam gained a record high in rice exports in the first 10 months of this year, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

In October, Việt Nam's rice exports reached 700,000 tonnes, earning US$433 million. They were unchanged in volume but up 27 per cent in value year on year.

Those figures brought the rice exports in the first 10 months of 2023 up by 17 per cent in volume to 7.1 million tonnes and 35 per cent in value to $4 billion compared to the same period in 2022.

Thus, the rice export value in the first 10 months reached the highest level since 2009.

The Việt Nam Food Association (VFA) said that as of October 27, Vietnamese rice has the highest price. Specifically, Việt Nam's 5 per cent broken rice was sold at $643 per tonne, $79-80 higher than rice from Thailand and Pakistan. 

Việt Nam's 25 per cent broken rice was traded at $628 per tonne, $106 and $140 higher than rice products from Thailand and Pakistan, respectively.

Meanwhile, according to reports from the Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development, rice prices in the domestic market also increased to an unprecedented high level. Rice prices in fields and warehouses increase every day. Of which, the price of dry rice increased to VNĐ14,000 per kg in the North and VNĐ15,000 in the Southwestern provinces.

Đỗ Hà Nam, VFA vice chairman, said the low supply and increasing prices make many local businesses dare not sign new export contracts.

Phạm Thái Bình, chairman of Trung An High-Tech Agriculture JSC, said that the domestic rice market is entering the end of the harvest season, the supply is not much but the selling price is fluctuating in a strong upward trend.

The enterprises have to buy fresh rice at the field for VNĐ8,000-8,200 per kg, the highest purchasing price ever. This price has increased about 30 per cent compared to the beginning of the year, Bình said.

According to Bình, Việt Nam's rice supply for export until the end of the year is not much left. Meanwhile, the demand in the world market is still high, especially from Indonesia, the Philippines and China.

He said that prices will remain at high level and hardly decrease to $600 per tonne, even when rice supply from Việt Nam and Thailand increases during the harvest period of the winter-spring crop.

Global rice demand tends to increase every year, while supply from rice-growing countries decreases due to the impact of climate change. Therefore, Bình believes that in the first months of 2024, export rice prices may remain at the level of $640 - 650 per tonne.

According to Nguyễn Văn Hiếu, head of the export division, Lộc Trời Group, the rice prices are much higher than those prices of previous years, and the price increase may last longer because the demand for rice is higher than supply. 

If India continues to restrict rice exports, global rice prices are likely to reach $1,000 per tonne.

Nguyễn Văn Việt, director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Planning Department, said according to forecasts from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Việt Nam can export about 7.8 million tonnes of rice this whole year, earning about $4.2-4.5 billion. — VNS