By March 15, Viet Nam exported 1.1 million tonnes of rice. — Photo vinanet

HÀ NỘI (VNS) – Local rice exporters have offered a higher export price due to price rise in the domestic market, thereby losing the advantage in the competitive world market, said experts.

Việt Nam’s rice exporters have increased prices between US$380 and $390 per tonne of 5 per cent broken rice, and between $365 and $375 per tonne of 25 per cent broken rice, while rice exporters in other regional countries have retained their current prices.

Nguyễn Văn Đôn, director of Việt Nam Ltd Company in Tiền Giang Province, said rice prices on the domestic market had been raised at frequent intervals recently because of the impact of El Nino to the Cửu Long River Delta region and the increased demand for rice in border regions, Vietnamplus reported.

As rice prices increased in the domestic market, the enterprises hiked the offer price for export rice by between $5 and $10 per tonne to between $365 and $390, but the prices were $10 to $20 higher than the acceptable buying price, and between $10 and $15 more than the export price of Thai rice, he said.

Huỳnh Thế Năng, chairman of Việt Nam Food Association (VFA), said Việt Nam’s rice export prices were much higher than average export price on the world market so Vietnamese rice has lost its sheen.

Now, as the price is rising, rice exporters will find it more difficult to sign contracts with high volumes, according to some exporters.

So, most exporters have purchased rice from the market to fulfil contracts that they signed before domestic prices increased. Some rice exporters could face losses because they signed contracts when prices were increasing in the domestic market, the association said.

By March 15, Việt Nam exported 1.1 million tonnes of rice, earning $475 million doubling volume and value against the same period last year, the association said.

The VFA anticipates that exports would reach 1.3 million tonnes in the first quarter, 56 per cent up from the same period last year. —VNS