Surpassing Thailand, Vietnamese rice ranks first in world on price

Overcoming Thailand and India, Vietnamese rice ranked first in the world on average selling price, which in the first quarter was US$547 per ton, up 18.6% year on year.

According to a report of the Department of Agricultural Processing and Market Development (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), Vietnam exported 1.1 million tons of rice in the first three months of 2021, earning $606 million, down 30.4% in volume and 17.4% in value over the same period of 2020.

In March 2021, the average export price of Vietnamese rice reached $547 per ton, up 0.5% compared to that of February 2021 and 19.1% compared to March 2020. On average, in the first quarter of 2021, the average export price of rice increased 18.6% year on year. The price for Vietnamese rice was higher than that of Thailand and India.

According to the Department of Agricultural Processing and Market Development, the price for Vietnamese rice was high during this period thanks to the high demand for new winter-spring rice from Vietnam from foreign partners.

Vietnamese rice has held the top spot in the world in selling prices. The price for 5% broken rice of India rose sharply in late March, but it only reached $401 per ton. Indian rice currently has the lowest price among the three largest rice exporting countries in the world. Meanwhile, the price of Thai rice of the same type reached $538 per ton in early March but fell to $509 per ton in late March.

In 2020, Vietnam surpassed its competitors in selling prices, with an export volume of 6.15 million tons, earning $3.07 billion, officially overtaking Thailand to become the second largest rice exporter in the world, after India.

According to the Vietnam Food Association, since late March 2021, rice exports will increase as the supply of commodity rice is abundant and businesses have completed processing rice for export.