Prices of rice on the domestic market increased sharply in recent weeks due to high export demand and waning stocks, according to the Viet Nam Food Association (VFA).
The purchasing price jumped from between VND3,900-5,600 per kilo (US$200-287 per tonne) last week to between VND5,200-6,600 per kilo ($266.6-338.5 per tonne) earlier this week, in figures released by the association.
This represented an average increase of VND2,000-2,400 per kilo ($102.5-123 per tonne) compared to two months ago and a record high for the first eight months of this year.
Nguyen Thanh Truyen, Deputy Director of the Long An Agriculture and Rural Development Department, said the increase was due to low commercial rice stocks and high export demand.
Cao Van Ut, a farmer in Cai Lay District, Tien Giang Province, said the increase had brought farmers profits of VND15 million – 16 million ($769-820) per ha of rice.
Pham Van Bay, VFA Deputy Chairman, said prices of Vietnamese export rice also increased by $20 against last week to $410 per tonne of 25 per cent broken rice and to $450 per tonne of five per cent broken rice.
Exporters expected to shift 700,000-800,000 tonnes of rice this month at a similar rate to last month, Bay said.
Nguyen Thanh Bien, Deputy Minister of industry and trade, said rice exports were expected to hit the annual target as planned. The export target of 6 million tonnes of rice for the year at $3 billion would be a year-on-year increase of 20 per cent.
In the first eight months of the year, rice exports rose 8.2 per cent to 5 million tonnes, earning $2.4 billion, an increase of 12.8 per cent in value. Natural disasters and the loss of crops in African countries and China had handed an opportunity to Vietnamese rice exporters, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.