Vietnam's rice exports this year are expected to ease 10 to 15 percent from 2010 to between 5.5 million and 6.1 million tonnes, an online website said. The country's total paddy output could reach nearly 39.75 million tonnes, the online news website NDHMoney.vn said in a report seen on Wednesday that cited an initial Agriculture Ministry projection.
At the start of the year, Vietnam often sets a low export target for rice, the staple of most of its 87 million people, to ensure domestic food security. The initial target can be revised up in the third quarter based on actual supply and demand. Last year, Vietnam, the world's second-largest exporter of the grain after Thailand, shipped a record 6.83 million tonnes, up 14.6 percent from 2009, and its paddy output rose 2.7 percent to 39.99 million tonnes, government statistics show.
The Vietnam Food Association has projected rice export contracts this year to reach a total of 7.6 million tonnes and keep 800,000 tonnes of milled rice in year-end stocks, the official Vietnam News Agency said in a weekend report. "But for the near term, the association will regulate rice exports under a 6-million-tonne target," the agency said, adding that Asian nations were expected to buy 60 percent of the target, while another 20 percent would go to African countries.
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