Vietnamplus

The Thai Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE) has warned that the price of Thai rice from April to May might plummet after the rice pledging scheme ended and rice from Vietnam entered the market.

An economist of the World Bank has urged the Philippine Government to remove the quantitative restriction (QR) on rice imports to control food price and reduce poverty in the country.

Vietnam shipped 330,501 tonnes of rice abroad in February, earning 147.08 million USD, up 7.57 percent in volume and 15.3 percent in value according to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA).

Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) said on January 16 that it would investigate a rice price subsidy programme of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

The November Market Review by global rice market news provider Oryza has shown that the price of Vietnamese rice surpassed that of Thai rice.

Ho Chi Minh City’s consumer price index (CPI) in October increased by 0.17 percent against the previous month and 4.89 percent year on year.

Vietnam exported more than 4 million tonnes of rice in the first seven months of this year, raking in 1.74 billion USD.

Enterprises have begun purchasing 1 million tonnes of rice for stockpile in the Mekong Delta under a Government programme that aims to ensure farmers make a profit.

The Mekong Delta’s total rice output is expected to reach 9.3 million tonnes in the 2013 summer-autumn crop, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) at a conference in Can Tho city on May 23.

The Vietnam Food Association (VFA) will start buying 1 million tonnes of rice for stockpile on February 20 under a plan recently approved by the Prime Minister.

Vietnamese businesses have so far this year shipped over 4.52 million tonnes of rice abroad for nearly 2.06 billion USD, said the Vietnam Food Association.

The Mekong Delta has so far this year shipped abroad 2.7 million tonnes of rice worth 1.25 billion USD.

The Vietnam Food Association (VFA) is hoping to export 600,000 tonnes of fragrant rice this year, 140,000 tonnes more than last year.

Market experts have said they expect the consumer price index ( CPI ) will increase by 0.4-0.5 percent in March, compared to 1.37 percent in February, due to lower food prices, purchasing power and input prices.

After significant export growth of 33.3 percent in 2011, Vietnam expects this year to attain further growth for its major products, including textiles and garments, leather and footwear, wood products and seafood.

The price of rice will rise to 700 USD per tonne next year even though India has returned to the market, according to the CEO of The Rice Trader, a leading trade publication and analyst of the global rice industry.