Vietnam's rice exports up 11 percent

Rice exports from Vietnam so far this year have reached 6.49 million tonnes, up 11 percent from the same period last year and already above the annual record high of 6.05 million scored in 2009, an industry body said. Grain exports between January 1 and December 17 brought in $2.78 billion, compared with 5.84 million tonnes worth $2.37 billion shipped in the same period last year, the Vietnam Food Association said in a weekly report.
It forecast rice exports from the Southeast Asian country would hit 6.74 million tonnes for the whole of 2010. Vietnam is the world's second-largest exporter of the grain after Thailand.
Revenue from rice, the highest cash earner among its exportable agricultural products, is equivalent to nearly 4 percent of the country's gross domestic product. The Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Iran and several African countries have shown high demand for rice, Vietnam Food Association Chairman Truong Thanh Phong was quoted in a state-run media report as saying this month.