Illustrative image (Photo: congthuong.vn) TheJanuary report by the US Department of Agriculture forecast the global ricetrade in 2023 will decrease about 4% from last year.
Largerice exporters are predicted to witness declines, including Argentina, Brazil,Cambodia, China, the EU, India, Laos, Malaysia, Pakistan, Paraguay, Russia,Senegal, Tanzania, Turkey, Uruguay, and the US. Among them, India and Pakistanmay see the sharpest falls, down by some 2.1 million tonnes in total, due to loweroutput and domestic market stabilisation policies.
Climatechange impacts and drought in the US, Europe, and China are posing a risk of supplyshortages, the Foreign Trade Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Tradetold a recent conference on rice export.
Asidefrom rising global demand, improved quality has also boosted importingcountries’ demand for Vietnamese rice, the agency noted, expecting an exportvolume of 6.5 - 7 million tonnes in 2023.
Importdemand in traditional markets like the Philippines and Africa will stay stablein the first half of this year as they are increasing food stockpiles, accordingto Chairman of the Vietnam Food Association Nguyen Ngoc Nam.
NguyenViet Anh, Director General of the Phuong Dong food company, said businesses arenow highly optimistic, and that since 2019, the sector has no longer neededsupport to sell out the grain, but sometimes even run out of rice to meetdemand.
Last year, Vietnam exported nearly 7.2 million tonnes ofrice, gaining 3.49 billion USD./.
VNA
