Vietnam has signed a contract to export 250,000 tonnes of 15 percent broken rice to Bangladesh for shipment this month and in February, a state-run newspaper reported on Wednesday. The contract is part of a combined 2.2 million tonnes of rice that Vietnam, the world's second-largest exporter after Thailand, expected to sell to Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines this year, the Saigon Giai Phong daily quoted industry officials as saying.
It gave no details on pricing. News of the expected sales, accounting for 37 percent of Vietnam's projected rice exports in 2011, and of the loading in early 2011, would help keep prices from falling quickly when Vietnam harvests its largest rice crop from late February.
The expected sales are based on the possibility that the Philippines, the world's top rice buyer, would import 1 million tonnes from Vietnam this year, the report said, quoting officials speaking at a Vietnam Food Association meeting on Tuesday.
Vietnam also hoped to sell between 400,000 tonnes and 500,000 tonnes of rice, mainly the high-quality 5 percent broken grade, to Malaysia, and 700,000 tonnes to both Indonesia and Bangladesh, the newspaper said. The country has so far had contracts to load a combined 450,000 tonnes to Indonesia and Bangladesh as part of the expected 700,0000 tonnes, it said.
There were possible demands from new markets such as Mongolia, the food association said, adding that Vinafood 2, the country's largest rice exporter, would also start selling parboiled rice, which has been exported so far only by Thailand. The Ho Chi Minh City-based Vinafood 2 exported 3.1 million tonnes of rice last year, or more than 45 percent of the country's total rice exports in 2010, when loading reached a record 6.83 million tonnes. This year rice exports could rise beyond the country's initial projection of 6.0 million tonnes, given its total grain available for sales abroad at 6.6 million tonnes this year, a state-run newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.