The Ministry of Trade recommends halting the signing of rice export contracts.

The Ministry of Trade’s Import-Export Department advises rice exporting businesses not to sign any more contracts in the near future, as the amount of rice exported under existing contracts is already close to the target of 4.5 million tons for the whole year.

In addition, businesses need to be prepared for a potential decrease in rice harvest yields due to drought, storms, and pest outbreaks.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the summer-autumn rice crop in the Mekong Delta, to be harvested next month, will decrease by 3% to 6.4 million tons due to a sharp reduction in planted area and unfavorable weather conditions. In the North, the winter-spring rice crop, already harvested, only reached 6.2 million tons, a decrease of about half a million tons compared to the previous year’s crop due to water shortages and pests.

Given these developments, trade experts suggest that rice export contracts for the fourth quarter should not be signed, to avoid the possibility of rising rice prices, natural disasters such as floods, and difficulties for businesses in preparing sufficient supplies. The government is also very cautious about this issue, so it will only consider increasing or decreasing the rice export target at the end of the third quarter.

According to the Import-Export Department, domestic rice prices are currently high, comparable to Thai rice prices, making it difficult for Vietnamese rice exports to compete in the market. It is predicted that Vietnamese rice export prices will increase in the coming weeks due to high global demand and limited supply.

According to data from the General Statistics Office, in the first five months of the year, the country exported more than 1.8 million tons of rice, a decrease of 21% compared to the same period last year, reaching a value of nearly 580 million USD. If the delivery schedule of signed contracts is followed, the country will export approximately 2.2 million tons of rice by the end of June.

(Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper)