Rice exports will continue to keep prices high in June

Rice prices are at a high level

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, on the situation of export rice prices , Vietnam's 5% broken rice exports, after rising to $425/ton in mid-April, by the beginning of May 2022 had decreased slightly to $415. /ton, equivalent to the average level in March. In general, although the selling price of Vietnamese rice for export has increased and decreased from time to time, the adjustment is not much. Currently, Vietnam's 5% broken rice has increased again to 423 USD/ton, 25% broken rice is offered at 403 USD/ton and 100% broken rice is 378 USD/ton.

Thus, the price of rice in May decreased slightly with 5% broken rice, while other types of rice remained stable and increased.

According to Mr. Phan Van Co - Marketing Director of Vrice Co., Ltd., in May, high-quality rice tends to increase with an increase of 10 - 15 USD/ton. Specifically, common white rice 430 USD/ton; Jasmine rice 540 USD/ton; 5451 white rice price 480 USD/ton; Japanese rice 580 USD/ton. The price of rice prospered partly thanks to the increased demand for Vietnamese rice imports from other markets, especially in two big markets, Asia and Africa. "In the early days of June, the price of rice for export continued to increase by 10 - 15 USD/ton compared to May. The market is quite stable, the buying demand is still high," said Mr. Phan Van Co.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh - Director of Phuoc Thanh IV Production and Trading Co., Ltd. said that in May, the rice export market was relatively stable, the number of customers and orders increased. In the Philippines market, high-quality rice fluctuates at $470-480/ton. The current price of FOB rice from Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City for 5451 rice at $480/ton, Taiwanese fragrant 8 at $505/ton.

Citing data from the Vietnam Food Association, in the first 5 months of 2022, rice exports to the Philippines market reached more than 1.2 million tons, an increase of more than 300,000 tons compared to the same period in 2021. These are good signs to help. The market continues to thrive.

Export rice prices at a high level in May 2022

According to Mr. Thanh, Vietnam's ordinary rice is 504, 5451, Dai Thom 8... which is having a good price thanks to many countries increasing the purchase volume. In particular, every year, the Philippines does not open a rice import quota until the beginning of June, but now the country imports early, so the market has been active since May.

There are still difficulties

According to Mr. Phan Van Co, although the market has many positive signals, the export price of rice is still anchored at a high level. However, rice export in the coming time still faces many difficulties. Currently, the African market has switched to buying Indian rice due to its good price and much cheaper shipping costs than Vietnam.

Besides, production costs along with high freight rates make Vietnamese rice less competitive in the market. "Currently, freight rates to major ports in the EU are still at $9,000 - $10,000 for each 20-foot container. The shortage of empty containers is still there. This causes corporate profits to plummet. Notably, many sales orders. CIF may suffer losses” , said Mr. Phan Van Co.

Mr. Phan Van Co said that in the current period, stabilizing high-priced rice is a difficult problem when the prices of agricultural inputs are escalating day by day, making farmers more miserable when producing rice. Therefore, if rice exporters want to maintain their export performance, they must stabilize their output and reduce production costs in order to make a profit.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, in the coming time, rice exports will have many positive signals thanks to the high demand in markets. Especially the Philippines and China market. The reason is due to reduced production due to floods in China, while in the Philippines, rice stocks are at a low level.

However, the big problem now is that Vietnamese rice is facing strong competition with Thai rice in terms of price and quality. “In the last 3 years, the price of Vietnamese rice in the middle segment has always been higher than that of Thai rice of the same type. However, with high-quality rice, it is still not competitive, " said Mr. Thanh.

Regarding the export price of rice in the coming time, Mr. Thanh said that liquidity is low and the price will be difficult to increase, despite the great demand. The reason is, some countries still have large inventories. In addition, many countries lack but mainly for national contract bidding, so commercial contracts are difficult to participate.

To support export businesses, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has continuously organized many export consulting sessions to markets such as ASEAN, Northern Europe, Kuwait... to answer and advise businesses. interested in market information and export opportunities. It is expected that in 2022, the Trade Promotion Agency and Vietnam's overseas deals will coordinate to organize 30 export consulting sessions to markets.