Paddy prices slightly increase after resumption of rice export

The prices of paddy in Mekong Delta provinces have been slightly climbing, around VND200-VND400 per kilogram higher than those in late-April.

Traders were buying dried OM5451 and DT8 rice varieties at VND7,000 per kilogram.

After the Prime Minister decided to resume the export of rice to normal, the prices of paddy have tended to increase. Unfortunately, farmers have already sold most of the paddy collected in the winter-spring rice crop to traders, said Mr. Dien Van Banh, a farmer in Phuong Binh Commune in Phung Hiep District in Hau Giang Province.

Many farmers had to sell their paddy right after harvesting to cover their debts of fertilizers and pesticides for agents and daily expenses.

Although most farmers had sold out the winter-spring paddy, farmers who grew the summer-autumn rice crop early are harvesting their crops soon. The fact that Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc allowed the export of rice to return to normalcy as of May has encouraged farmers to take care of their paddy fields with the hope that the paddy prices will be high in the summer-autumn rice crop, according to Mr. Tran Chi Hung, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Hau Giang Province.

Currently, the Mekong Delta provinces have sowed more than 750,000 hectares of summer-autumn rice. According to the Department of Crop Production, rice fields are reaping, thanks to favorable weather, the rice yield is estimated at 7-8 tons of paddy per hectare. Rice farmers are carrying out the final tending stages to prepare for harvesting. This summer-autumn rice crop, provinces in the Mekong Delta are expected to get a production of 8.7 million tons of paddy. Of which, there will be around 2.3-2.4 million tons of commercial rice for export.

Rice experts said that the export of rice has been cleared, enterprises should take the opportunity of high prices to export rice. Currently, the export prices of Vietnamese rice are equal to those of Pakistan, higher than those of India, and lower than those of Thailand. Noticeably, the highest export price of Vietnamese Jasmine rice reached US$573-$577 per ton, while that of Thailand’s Hom Mali 92 percent rice was up to $1,093-$1,097 per ton.