12 May 2023

In the first 4 months of 2023, rice exports to Indonesia increased sharply by 2,514% over the same period last year and became Vietnam's third largest rice buyer.

According to preliminary statistics of the General Department of Customs, in the first four months of 2023, rice exports reached nearly 2.9 million tons, worth $1.53 billion, up 40.7% in volume and 51.6 percent in volume. % in value over the same period last year. In particular, in March and April alone, rice exports earned nearly 1.1 billion USD. The average export price of rice reached 526 USD/ton, up 7.6% over the same period last year.

Notably, while rice exports to African markets recorded negative growth, rice exports to Asian markets grew by 3- to 4-digit numbers. Customers in Asia include: Philippines, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, ... massively buy Vietnamese rice in large quantities.

In particular, the Philippines is still the largest customer of Vietnamese rice exports. By the end of April 2023, the export value of rice to this market reached US$647.5 million, up 53.4% over the same period last year and accounting for 42.4% of the total export value.

China rose to become the second largest export market with a turnover of 292.5 million USD, up 88.2% over the same period.

Notably, Indonesia has massively bought Vietnamese rice in recent months. In just 4 months of this year, rice exports to this market earned 149 million USD, a sudden increase of 2,514% compared to the same period last year.

In 2022, rice exports to Indonesia will only reach $58 million. This is a very modest figure in the total rice export turnover of 3.45 billion USD in 2022 of our country. However, with a turnover of 2,514% in the first 4 months of this year, Indonesia for the first time in history rose to become the third largest customer of Vietnamese rice, just behind the Philippines and China.

Information from the Center for Digital Transformation and Agricultural Statistics (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), April 2023, rice export prices from Vietnam increased to the highest level in two years. Meanwhile, rice prices in Thailand and India both tend to increase until the middle of the month, then turn down towards the end of the month.

Accordingly, in Vietnam, the price of 5% broken rice was offered for sale at $495-500/ton (the highest level since April 2021), an increase of $50/ton from a month ago. In India, 5% broken parboiled rice is currently at $382-388/ton, down from $385-392/ton in mid-April 2023. In Thailand, the price of 5% broken rice was at $480/ton, down $10 from $485-490/ton in mid-April 2023, but up $17/ton from the March average.

According to rice exporters, the current difficulty is not the export market, but the quality rice growing area to have a large enough supply to export to high-end markets. In particular, customers who buy rice from Europe, America, ... have great demand.

Source: congthuong.vn