HCMC - Strong foreign demand has pushed up reference prices of export-standard rice by US$50 per ton, but the trade ministry confirmed there would be no rice shortage for export this year.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien, who is in charge of managing rice exports, told the Daily after a review meeting on Tuesday on exports in the last four months that there is still one million tons of rice in stock. Furthermore, the commercial rice volume will increase in the upcoming harvest, he said.
“In the coming harvest, the country expects to have an additional 3.5 million tons of rice, including 1.5 million tons of commercial rice. We will weigh the situation to decide the amount for export till the end of this year,” Bien said.
However, Bien declined to comment on some predictions that the rice export volume this year could jump to a record high of seven million tons despite the ample inventory. In June, the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) suggested to raise the export target by half a million tons to 6.5 million tons of rice.
Pham Van Bay, vice chair of the association, said the total export in July and August has increased considerably from the same period last year. He estimated that export in September will be steady at between 700,000 and 800,000 tons.
The total rice export in the January-August period amounted to 4.8 million tons valued at more than US$ 2 billion.
Currently, rice exporters are increasing purchases from farmers owing to strong foreign demand.
In August, VFA raised the reference price three times by US$50 per ton. For the 5%-broken rice, the guiding price is at US$450, while that for 25%-broken rice is US$410 per ton. However, the number of rice exporters signing contracts at these prices is insignificant.
“The guiding price is applicable to both contracts under government-to-government agreements for major markets such as the Philippines, Iraq, and Cuba, as well as to commercial contracts,” Bay added.
Currently, all food traders are asked to observe the reference prices determined by VFA from time to time when signing contracts with foreign rice buyers.
Companies in Vietnam may be finding it harder to repay dollar debt in the wake of its latest dong devaluation but demand for greenback loans is rising on speculation that the exchange rate will be stable in the short term, bankers said.
Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung suspended two board members of Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group, a state-owned company that came close to bankruptcy this year, as part of an investigation.
Vietnam's economy is expected to grow 6.7 percent this year, beating a government growth target of 6.5 percent, the government said.