A rice factory of Lộc Trời Group Joint Stock Company in the southern province of An Giang. The company produces about 200,000 tonnes of rice per year and is a major contributor to Việt Nam's rice exports. — VNA/VNS Photo Vũ Sinh

Việt Nam is the second largest rice exporter to Indonesia as of the end of August, according to Statistics Indonesia (Badan Pusat Statistik).

The Indonesian government agency has published data on rice imports for the first eight months of the year.

It showed that Indonesia has imported a total of 3.05 tonnes of rice worth US$1.91 billion from January to August.

The three largest rice exporters to the country are Thailand (1.13 million tonnes worth $735 million), Việt Nam (870,000 tonnes worth $542 million) and Pakistan (460,000 tonnes worth $290 million).

The Indonesian National Logistics Agency recently initiated a tender to import a record amount of 450,000 tonnes of 5 per cent broken white rice.

The agency said the rice must come from Việt Nam, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Pakistan, and should be delivered in the next two months.

Five per cent broken white rice is a popular type of rice for export. The name indicates that out of 100 rice grains, only five should be broken.

Broken rice refers to the fragments of rice grains fractured during the milling or transport processes. — VNS