Rice export demand in Vietnam

Vietnam is one of the main rice exporting countries in Southeast Asia. However, our country’s rice industry is currently facing many difficulties and challenges in the context of integration and the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic.

Current status of rice export in Vietnam

From 2020 until now, export activities in general and rice export activities in particular have all been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Facing this situation, the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Industry and Trade have actively implemented many solutions to ensure food security and remove difficulties in the context of the epidemic.

According to the import and export report, Vietnam’s rice exports in 2020 reached 6.25 million tons, worth 3.12 billion USD. Although rice exports decreased by 1.9% compared to 2019, the average national food export value increased by 11.2%. At the same time, the average export price in 2020 reached 499 USD/ton, increasing 13.3% compared to 2019. This is the highest average export price in recent years.

Asia is the main market of Vietnamese rice. The Philippines is the largest import partner, accounting for 33.9% of Vietnam’s rice export market share to the Asian market. In 2020, Vietnam’s white rice export value increased sharply, accounting for about 45.1% of the total turnover. Rice varieties such as: jasmine, fragrant rice accounted for 26.8%, equivalent to 1.64 million tons; broken rice: accounting for 13.65%, equivalent to 834.4 thousand tons; sticky rice accounted for 8.9%, equivalent to 547.9 thousand tons; japonica rice and Japanese rice varieties accounted for 4.2%.

Opportunities

According to a market report on consumption demand and food reserves in 2022, Vietnam’s rice exports are increasing in output, estimated at 44.79 million tons, increasing 1% compared to 2021. The countries that are expected to continue to escalate rice imports are the Philippines (increase 13%), Ivory Coast (increase 9.1%), Ghana (increase 5.6%) and the EU (increase 2.0%). China will remain the largest rice importer in 2022 with 2.9 million tons, followed by the EU with 2.45 million tons and the Philippines with 2.2 million tons. All of the above countries are the main export markets of Vietnamese rice.

The export opportunity for Vietnamese rice is being assessed as a golden time because the disease situation in 2022 has decreased and is no longer as difficult as two years ago. This leads to an increase in the demand for food and foodstuffs in many countries.

In 2022, Vietnam has expanded its export scale in the international market through the signing of new generation free trade agreements: EVFTA; RCEP; EAEU,…. The signing of these FTAs has helped Vietnamese rice be well – known to many countries, adding value to our rice.

Challenges

In addition to the golden opportunities, our country’s rice exports also face many challenges, which are:

Firstly, rice importing countries all set stricter standards to control the quality of imported products due to concerns about food safety and hygiene issues.

Secondly, a number of countries now possess a form of high-tech agriculture with modern machinery, high production productivity, and uniform quality products. Vietnamese rice is under a lot of pressure when our country’s cultivation is still fragmented and the process is not synchronized.

Thirdly, with volatile prices, rice production is still unsustainable due to small-scale production and low added value, thus leading to many post-harvest losses for businesses.

Fourthly, the number of enterprises participating in the association contract to consume agricultural products is still small and their capacity is limited. Infrastructure and technology for service are not guaranteed, especially by-products that have not been processed to enhance added value.

Through the above article, readers will surely understand more about the demand for rice export in Vietnam today, along with the opportunities and challenges that Vietnamese rice faces.