Vietnam’s rice export volume totalled 627,089 tonnes in August, an increase of 1.87 percent compared to July and 1.4 percent compared to the same period last year.

According to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), the average price during this period was 431.1 USD/tonne, representing a year-on-year increase of 6.47 USD per tonne.

The country exported 4.243 million tonnes at an average price of 431.38 USD per tonne during the first eight months of 2014, up 2.95 USD per tonne compared to the January-August period of 2013.

Vietnam’s largest customer in August was the Philippines, followed by African countries, China, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Rice growers in the country’s granary Mekong Delta had an outstanding summer-autumn crop harvest at a time when prices for rice were high, Huynh The Nang, General Director of the Southern Food Corporation (Vinafood II), said.

Nang also revealed that Vinafood II won a bid to export 500,000 tonnes of rice to the Philippines in the near future, affirming that the price for rice is expected to remain at today’s level.

According to VFA, Vietnamese rice producers aim to export 650,000 tonnes of rice in September. In the last 2014 quarter, they hope to export 1.4 million tonnes of rice, bringing the country’s annual rice export volume to 6.3 million tonnes.-VNA