Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Vietnam shipped 3.58 million tonnes of rice abroad, earning1.94 billion USD in the first seven months of 2021, down 10.6 percent in volumeand 0.6 percent in value compared to the same period last year.
According to the Institute of Policy and Strategy forAgriculture and Rural Development under the Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment, 550,000 tonnes of rice worth 289 million USD were exported in July.
In the first half of 2021, the Philippines was the largestmarket of Vietnamese rice, accounting for 35.2 percent of Vietnam’s total rice exports, equivalent to 1.09 million tonnes worth 579.8 million USD, down 20.6 percent and 8.6 percent year on year, respectively.
In the Jan-June period, the highest rise was seen in the Bangladeshi market with a 142-fold rise, while the sharpest fall was recorded in the Indonesian market with a 60.5 percent drop inexport value.
On average, rice prices increased 11.6 percent year onyear to 544 USD per tonne, according to the institute.
Do Hoai Nam, Chairman and General Director of Intimex Group, held thatit was not a big problem when rice exports reduced. The difficult thing is that domesticfirms fail to fulfill orders, he stressed.
Nam explained that complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemicin southern localities have made it difficult for rice trading, not to mentionthe "frozen" situation of the entire chain when a COVID-19 case is found in only onefactory.
Rice traders are facing obstacles due to social distancingmeasures, especially in the stage of loading and unloading, causing bigproblems for exporters, he said.
Meanwhile, Pham Thai Binh, General Director of Trung An Hi-Tech Farming JSC,said that the firm has received orders with a total volume of over 10,000 tonnes.However, due to social distancing measures, two-thirds of its workers have beenasked to temporary stay at home, leading to a lack of personnel for operationsserving production and export activities.
Many rice exporters are facing the same plight, forcing them to re-negotiatewith customers, and even refuse to sign new contracts.
According to the Vietnam Food Association, due to pandemic prevention and controlregulations, it is difficult for domestic companies to buy, process and export rice.Meanwhile, the opportunity is high for Vietnam to increase exports as globaldemand is rising and supplies are reducing, especially from big exporters likeIndia and Thailand.
Nam underlined the significance of promptly controlling COVID-19 as well as thefaster vaccination for workers in food producing and processing companies./.
VNA
