The Việt Nam Trade Office in Sweden has confirmed that Vietnamese rice is not among the batches temporarily seized by Swedish authorities for suspected quality fraud.
Vietnamese rice now has the highest export prices, distinguishing itself from key competitors, including Thailand and Pakistan, whose prices have fallen.
The prices of Vietnamese rice increased strongly in many foreign markets in the first half of this year, according to statistics from the General Department of Việt Nam Customs.
Over the past four months, Việt Nam exported 3.23 million tonnes of rice, worth US$2.1 billion, up 12 per cent in volume and 37 per cent in value, according to the General Department of Customs.
Political conflicts and climate change, which caused rice demand and rice prices to increase in 2023, are continuing in 2024. Therefore, the need to import and reserve food in general and rice in particular is continuing to increase this year.
The price of Việt Nam''s 5 per cent broken rice has increased to US$550-575 per tonne, the highest since 2011. Early last week, it was just $515-525 per tonne.
According to an expert from Viet Nam Securities Company Limited Bank for Foreign Trade (VCBS), the country''s rice industry enjoys favourable factors, such as weather and geographical advantage.
The export prices of Vietnamese rice in the first two months of 2023 rose by 9.8 per cent year-on-year to US$528.5 per tonne, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
In the draft amendment to Decree No 107 on rice trade which is currently in the consultation process, the MoIT proposed management regulations of rice imports, especially imports of low-quality rice from overseas markets.