Vietnam witnesses lowest level of rice exports since 2016

Vietnam witnessed the lowest level of rice exports in July since the beginning of 2016, according to Vietnam Industry and Trade Information Center (VITIC) on Thursday.

In July, Vietnam exported over 286,688 tons of rice, earning 127.2 million U.S. dollars, a decrease of 12 percent in volume and 85 percent in value over the previous month, VITIC quoted statistics of Vietnam General Department of Customs as saying.

Compared to the same period in 2015, the July figure posted a decrease of over 53 percent in volume and 50 percent in value.

All markets of Vietnamese rice saw downtrend in revenue in July due to plunge in export price.

Vietnamese rice was sold at the lowest level compared to other regional rice exporters. Price of Vietnam's 5-percent broken rice was 370-380 U.S. dollars per ton while that of Thailand was over 400 U.S. dollars, said VITIC.

Amid the sluggish situation, the Vietnam Food Association decided to lower rice export target to 5.65 million tons in 2016 from the previous target of 6.5 million tons. As such, this will be the first time in many years that Vietnam saw an under-6-million-ton rice export volume.

Recently, Vietnamese agricultural experts have expressed concerns over the risk that Vietnam may lose its position as the world's third largest rice exporter as the country saw significant declines in rice exports so far this year.

In the first seven months of 2016, Vietnam exported some 2.94 million tons of rice, earning around 1.32 billion U.S. dollars, down 18.2 percent in volume and 14.2 percent in value year-on-year, according to Vietnamese customs statistics. Endit