Rice harvest output hits record in Vietnam this year

HANOI, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) : Vietnam harvested a bumper rice crop this year, with the ever highest record of 41.5 million tons of paddy, 1.5 million tons higher than last year, which helped secure the country's both domestic food requirement and that for export, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) Tuesday. The country exported 7.2 million tons of rice this year, earning about $3.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4.4 percent in volume and 14 percent in value, reported MARD. Experts said the success was attributed to the increasing volume and price, with rice exports price reaching 510 US dollars per ton on the average, up 9.1 per cent against last year. The Asian market accounted for 65 per cent of Vietnam's rice exports, mostly from Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh and the Philippines. It was followed by South Africa with 24 per cent, said the report. However, Vietnam is forecast to face challenges in rice exports next year due to Thailand's changing policy on rice exports, according to Vietnam Food Association (VFA) President Truong Thanh Phong. Currently, Thailand's Hommali rice is sold at more than 1,000 U.S. dollars per ton, while Vietnam's fragrance and parboiled rice is sold at 820 U.S. dollars per ton. Meanwhile, India's rice quality has been improved and the country is predicted to harvest a bumper rice crop in 2012. This will be a disadvantage for Vietnam in exporting rice to the African market. VFA plans to expand export market for rice next year, including China, said VFA President.