Vietnam's rice exports in the first three months of this year are expected to reach between 1.6 million and 1.8 million tonnes, up at least 11 percent from the corresponding period last year, a state-run newspaper reported on Monday. A total of 700,000 tonnes could be loaded this month and shipments in March would reach between 400,000 tonnes and 500,000 tonnes, after 485,000 tonnes had gone last month, the Agriculture Ministry-run Vietnam Agriculture newspaper said.
A rising export volume from Vietnam, the world's second-largest rice exporter, plus ample supplies from top exporter Thailand could help keep prices from making dramatic surges, as seen in 2008, even though fresh demand in Asian could emerge. Vietnam exported 1.44 million tonnes of rice in the first quarter of 2010, government data show. The expected shipment in March depends on ongoing talks and market demand, an online report of the newspaper (danviet.vn) cited industry projections as saying, without giving details of the negotiations.
Vietnamese exporters now have nearly 1.12 million tonnes of rice to load in coming weeks, based on their registered export contracts, the report said. Vietnam cut on Monday the minimum price by 3 percent for its 25 percent broken rice to $480 a tonne, free-on-board basis, and also lowered the floor for 5 percent broken rice to $500 per tonne to attract importing demand.