The Vietnam Food Association has announced that it is to increase its target of stockpiling rice from 1 million tonnes to 1.5 million tonnes.

“The price will be set in accordance with the market and will satisfy the winter-spring crop guarantee of a minimum 30 percent profit for farmers,” said vice chairman of the association Pham Van Bay.

According to Bay, the completion of the winter-spring crop harvest in the Cuu Long (Mekong) River Delta has seen rice prices jump to between 4,200 VND to 4,500 VND (0.22 to 0.24 USD) per kilogram.

He said that businesses had collected around 790,000 tonnes of the 1 million tonnes required. However, a lack of storage facilities and a gloomy export market have slowed purchase.

Bay, however, was still optimistic about the rice export market after competitor countries such as Indonesia and Bangladesh suffered from poor harvests.

The association has asked its members to continue to stockpile rice and launch a website with up-to-date market information and support for farmers.

As of March 18, the country had signed contracts to export 3 million tonnes of rice, a drop of 12 percent against the same period last year, according to the association.

Of the signed contracts, the country has shipped nearly 1 million tonnes worth 465 million USD, a reduction of 25.9 percent in volume and 12.8 percent in value against the same period last year.

However, things are looking up now as several importers negotiate purchases of more rice from Vietnam and export prices show an upward trend, according to the association.

Over the past two months, rice exports were implemented mostly via government-to-government contracts.

However, rice exporters have now begun to get commercial contracts, the association said.
Several markets like Indonesia, Bangladesh are also planning to import rice from Vietnam, it added./.