Workers stack up rice sacks for delivery in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam shipped abroad some 3.76 million tonnes of rice worth 1.69 billion USD between January and September, dropping 16.4 percent in volume and 12.5 percent in value from a year earlier.
About 396,000 tonnes of rice was exported in September, bringing home 176 million USD, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
During the first eight months of 2016, though China’s purchase of Vietnamese rice declined 21.4 percent in volume and 12.3 percent in value (to 1.18 million tonnes and 538 million USD) year on year, the country remained the biggest importer of this farm produce of Vietnam.
China was followed by Ghana, which imported 343,000 tonnes worth 166.4 million USD, up 36.9 percent in volume and 30.6 percent in value.
Notably, Indonesia’s import of Vietnamese rice shot up 24.3 times in volume and 25.4 times in value, with 359,000 tonnes and 142.5 million USD.
Meanwhile, sharp falls were seen in the value of rice export to the Philippines (down 67.4 percent), Malaysia (43.3 percent), Singapore (35.7 percent), Ivory Coast (25.3 percent) and China’s Taiwan (14.1 percent).
The agriculture ministry said the win of a bid to supply 150,000 tonnes of 25-percent broken rice to the Philippines didn’t affect the domestic market.
Rice prices in the Mekong Delta, the biggest rice hub of Vietnam, continued the downward trend in September due to the big inventory and poor sales while the harvest of early autumn-winter rice crop has begun.-VNA
