HÀ NỘI — Cần Thơ City expects to export its first batches of rice to Iran in the last quarter of 2017, Huỳnh Trung Trứ, deputy director of the city’s Department of Industry and Trade, said.

At a meeting to review import-export activities organised by the city’s People’s Committee on Wednesday, Trứ said a company in Iran in August directly dealt with a rice firm in Cần Thơ to finalise a contract to export to Iran 100,000 tonnes of rice from now until the end of the year.

“Previously, Cần Thơ did not export rice to this market,” the official said.

According to Trứ, if rice shipment to Iran meets favourable conditions, the city hopes that the partner will sign a longer term contract next year.

Trứ said demand for rice imports has increased in many markets such as Bangladesh, the Philippines and Iran.

For the Bangladesh market alone, the country needs to import some 500,000 tonnes.

"Particularly, in October 2017, they demand for 250,000-300,000 tonnes,” Trứ said, adding that local firms have probably registered with the Việt Nam Food Association (VFA) to participate in bidding for the shipment of rice.

In the first nine months of 2017, the city’s total rice export volume reached over 638,000 tonnes, bringing turnover of US$262 million, up 22 and 20 per cent year-on-year, respectively.

According to reports of the city’s Department of Industry and Trade, the locality’s export revenue from January to September reached over $1 billion, a surge of 16.9 per cent compared with the same period last year.

The city also imported goods worth $321 million, up 47.6 per cent from the same period last year, driven by the increased purchase of equipment and machines for production.

According to VFA, in the first nine months of the year, the country exported 4.57 million tonnes of rice, reaping a turnover of $2.02 billion, rising by 20.8 per cent in volume and 18.6 per cent in value against the figures of the corresponding period last year.

The association forecasts that in 2017, the country’s rice exports will reach some 5.7 million tons, including 1.8 million tonnes in the last quarter, and 800,000 tonnes higher than 2016. — VNS