Vietnamese rice exports drop to 7-year low, losing key market

Vietnam's rice exports have fallen sharply to a seven-year low, according to a new report released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) on Thursday.

From January to November 2016, Vietnam exported 4.5 million tons of rice with a turnover of 2 billion U.S. dollars, a decrease of 26 percent in volume and 22 percent in value compared to the same period last year.

The evaluation report by MARD showed that the volume of rice exported so far this year is the lowest figure since 2009 while most export firms could not meet their goals. The country is unlikely to meet the goal to export 5.7 million tons of rice in 2016, which is already lower than the 6.5 million tons exported last year.

Average monthly export output has reached 409,000 tons but the country is exporting less rice near the end of the year. The output for September, October and November was 300,000-320,000 tons.

In addition, Vietnam is losing its key markets. Rice export to China, the biggest rice consumer, in 11 months reached 1.6 million tons with turnover of some 700 million U.S. dollars, a decrease of 400,000 tons and 120 million U.S. dollars from last year.

At the same time, exports to the Philippines totaled at 350,000 tons with turnover of 150 million U.S. dollars, a year-on-year fall of 600,000 tons and 300 million dollars.

According to Vietnam Food Association, the situation was attributed to the fact that many Vietnamese rice markets had tightened management on import-export activities. Meanwhile, Vietnam is losing its price advantages in markets of the Philippines, Indonesia and Ghana.

Vo Tong Xuan, an expert from Can Tho University, said on local Dan Tri (Knowledge for People) online newspaper on Thursday that Vietnam needs to completely reform the rice sector, including improving productivity, rice quality and distribution networks to compete in the global market. Enditem