Rice stockpiled in a storage facility of Song Hau Food Company. — VNA/VNS Photo Vu Sinh

Viet Nam has shipped nearly 57,000 tonnes of rice abroad as of 3pm on Tuesday, part of 400,000 tonnes of rice under quotas for this month, the General Department of Customs said on its website.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc approved the Ministry of Trade and Industry's proposal to resume rice exports after a few weeks of suspension to make sure the country has sufficient food to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the department, from April 11-12, local businesses have registered to export 399,999 tonnes of rice.

The department said it has been updating information about the volume of rice exports on its official website at www.custom.gov.vn each hour.

In the first quarter of this year, the country exported about 1.52 million tonnes of rice for US$700.8 million, up 9 per cent in volume and 16 per cent in value year-on-year, the department's statistics revealed. — VNS