Developing from a small country and even suffering from famine, nowadays Vietnamese rice export is leading the global market in supplying rice.
Vietnamese rice export: An overview
In 2020, 6.15 million tons of Vietnamese rice were exported, worth US$3.07 billion. Compared to 2019, the volume of rice exported in 2020 decreased by 3.5% but increased by 9.3% in value.
Vietnamese white rice is mainly imported by the Philippines (53.7%), Cuba (23.5%), and South Korea (7.7%).
Jasmine rice and fragrant rice are distributed to Ivory Coast (31.8%), Ghana (12.8%), and the Philippines (11.3%).
China is the largest importer of Vietnamese glutinous rice, accounting for 87.9%, followed by Indonesia and the Philippines.
Three major import markets of japonica rice and Japanese rice are Papua New Guinea (16.7%), Solomon Islands (9.2%), and China (8.1%).
Reasons behind Vietnamese rice export’s development
In recent years, Vietnamese have made a lot of effort to develop Vietnamese rice exports.
Stable sources for rice export
Rice has been cultivated in Vietnam since about 1200 BC. Since then, Vietnam has developed many cultivation techniques and different varieties of rice, creating diversity in products to meet market demand.
As a large rice producer, Vietnam has 3.760 million ha of the national area for rice cultivation. The Mekong Delta is the largest rice basket in Vietnam with 3,963.7 thousand ha, accounting for 54.5% of the country’s total rice-growing area.
Increasing value of Vietnamese rice export
According to the VFA, the price of Vietnam’s 5% broken rice for export on the world market has reached $438-442/ton, an increase of $5/ton. In comparison, Vietnamese rice export is far from that of Thailand – which is considered a rice exporting country with many overwhelming advantages. The price of Vietnamese rice for export has increased because orders from traditional rice importing countries are in demand again. In particular, the rice supply from India was affected by unfavorable weather.
Increasing demand for Vietnamese rice export
The Philippines is the major customer of Vietnamese rice export when 84% of this country’s rice imports is accounted for by Vietnam. After that, China is Vietnam’s second-largest rice importer. Compared to the same period in 2020, Vietnamese rice export to China in April 2021 increased sharply by 58.3% in volume and 49.7% in value.
Supporting policies for rice export
In recent years, the government has taken important steps in cooperating with rice-demanding countries to create opportunities for the development of Vietnamese rice export. In addition, the state also offers favorable policies for businesses.
- Free trade agreement between Vietnam and EU.
- Vietnam-EAEU free trade agreement.
- Tightening management of specialty rice varieties ST25, ST24 ST25 and ST24 are Vietnam’s top specialty rice.
Top 3 Vietnamese rice export suppliers
The following are the top 3 most reputable Vietnamese rice export companies.
Vinafood I – top Vietnamese rice export company
Northern Food Corporation is a special-class state-owned Vietnamese rice export company established on the basis of reorganizing the enterprises of the Central Food Corporation I and the provinces from Thua Thien Hue onwards out.
Currently, the company has 50 rice processing facilities located in the Mekong Delta and Red River Delta, with a capacity of over 1 million tons/year.
Vinafood II – top Vietnamese rice export company
Currently, Southern Food Corporation – Vinafood II owns a system of large factories and warehouses spreading from Da Nang city to Ca Mau, among which the key is provinces in the Mekong Delta to effectively serve the storage and processing of agricultural products for export.
K-Agriculture Factory – top Vietnamese rice export company
K-Agriculture Factory is the leading Vietnamese rice export company. The factory has standardized milling and polishing chains, with a total capacity of 500 tons/day. With 25 years of development, K-Agriculture Factory has been a trustworthy partner of 80 countries.
