Vietnamplus

The Vietnamese rice industry is set to benefit from the high demand and prices this year, with lower input costs leading to expanded profit margins for rice businesses.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has required the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) to control rice prices which had increased in 79 regions nationwide.

Vietnam recorded year-on-year growth of 3.15% in the 2022 consumer price index (CPI) while core inflation increased 2.59%, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said on December 29.

The export prices of Thai rice have risen to the highest level since June 2022 thanks to an increase in shipments and a stronger Thai baht.

The consumer price index (CPI) posted year-on-year growth of 2.89% in the first 10 months of 2022 while core inflation rose 2.14%, the General Statistics Office (GSO) revealed on October 29.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has requested relevant ministries and sectors to take appropriate measures to stabilise the market and rice prices, and ensure the interests of farmers after information that India will restrict rice exports. ​

Vietnam always follows market rules regarding rice prices, said the Director of the Plant Cultivation under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Nguyen Nhu Cuong at the ministry’s recent regular press briefing.

The Vietnamese government has issued an agricultural restructuring policy, by which the rice structure has been strongly adjusted, changing the rice cultivation protocols and paying more attention to improving rice quality rather than increasing production, according to a report by Research and Markets - the world's largest market research store.

Thai rice prices are expected to increase by 5 percent in the second quarter, pushed up by the Russia-Ukraine conflict’s effect on surging global commodity prices, said veteran trader Chookiat Ophaswongse.

Vietnam’s consumer price index (CPI) in April was down 0.04 percent against the previous month while up 2.7 percent year on year, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Though the prices of Vietnamese 5-percent broken white rice fell 20 USD per tonne in a week, most local rice exporters said the decline would make sales easier.

The increasingly improved quality of rice is the basis for businesses to expect that rice exports will soon prosper and reach a new milestone compared to the figure of nearly 3.1 billion USD in 2020.

The consumer price index (CPI) in May decreased by 0.03 percent against the previous month and 1.24 percent against last December, but increased by 4.39 percent year-on-year, the General Statistics Office (GSO) reported on May 29.

Thailand’s rice packers warn that packaged rice prices are likely to increase further after domestic rice prices rose by 20-30 percent since the start of the year, mostly due to drought and a sharp rise in demand amid of COVID-19 outbreak.

Vietnam exported 890,000 tonnes of rice worth 420 million USD in the first two months of 2020, a year-on-year increase of 27 percent and 32.6 percent and in terms of volume and value, respectively, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Rice prices will rise until the middle of the year as consumers around the world are beefing up their stockpiles, while China will not increase their exports for food security to deal with the outbreak of the acute respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), the Thai Rice Exporters Association (TREA) forecast.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered a halt in rice imports after prices of the staple fell more than a fifth during the last nine months, hurting millions of local famers.

Vietnam exported 5.56 million tonnes of rice and brought home 2.43 billion USD in the first 10 months of 2019, up 6.1 percent in volume but down 9.1 percent in value over the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

Vietnam exported 4.01 million tonnes of rice worth 1.73 billion USD in the first seven months of 2019, up 2.1 percent in volume but down 14.3 percent in value year on year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Thai government has affirmed that it is still using the market-oriented production principle policy to stabilise the prices of rice according to the mechanism.