Rice exports down in volume, up in price

In the first months of the year, Vietnam’s rice exports volume decreased sharply compared to the same period in 2020.

According to the General Department of Vietnam Customs, in the first 15 days of March, the country exported 203,320 tonnes of rice and turnover reached more than US$111 million.

From the beginning of the year to March 15, the rice export volume reached 858,605 tonnes and the turnover is more than US$470 million.

Compared to the same period in 2020, the amount of rice exported fell by nearly 440,000 tonnes, the turnover decreased by more than US$130 million (in the same period of 2020 it reached 1,295,768 tonnes, the turnover was more than US$601 million).

Although total rice export volume decreased, the average value of rice exports increased sharply more than US$80/tonne (equivalent to about 2 million VND) compared to the same period last year.

The average of the first months of 2021 reached US$548/tonne, while the same period in 2020 was only US$464/tonne.

The main rice export markets of Vietnam are the Philippines, China, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore.

In 2020, Vietnam exported nearly 6.25 million tonnes of rice, the turnover is US$3.12 billion, decreased by 1.9% in volume but up by 11.2% in value compared to 2019.