The price of rice has increased by US$15-20 per tonne after many Chinese businesses flocked to the Mekong River Delta to buy rice.

 

The price of five percent broken rice now stands at US$435-440 per tonne against US$425 per tonne the week before. Although the Chinese market has a great demand for rice, Vietnamese businesses have not signed many big rice export contracts for fear that they will suffer losses when local rice prices keep increasing.

In March, Vietnam is due to sell 450,000 tonnes of rice to China under contract, double the figure from two months earlier combined altogether.

However, the price of Vietnamese five percent broken rice is still much lower than the current price of rice in the Chinese market (US$500 per tonne).

According to economists, these positive signs in the rice market are attributed to the Government’s policy to buy one million tonnes of rice for reserves. Recently, 88 businesses under the Vietnam Food Association purchased rice for reserves, prompting foreign businesses, including those from China, to buy Vietnamese rice.

Farmers in the Mekong River Delta are currently harvesting their winter-spring rice crop. Dried rice is being sold at VND5,600-5,700 per kilo and long grain at VND5,800-5,900 per kilo, while five percent broken rice has increased by VND300 per kilo compared to a week earlier. 

(VOV)