In the first trading session following India’s imposition of rice export taxes and Myanmar’s restrictions on the same commodity, Vietnamese rice export prices have surged to a new peak, reaching $643 per ton.
Data from the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) reveals that on August 28, the export prices of 5% broken rice from Vietnam, Thailand, and Pakistan all witnessed concurrent increases. Specifically, Vietnamese rice prices rose by $5 per ton compared to August 25, reaching $643 per ton; Thai rice increased by $2 to $630 per ton; and the similar grade of Pakistani rice rose by $10, reaching $608 per ton.
Consequently, the export price of 5% broken rice from Vietnam has outpaced that of Thailand and Pakistan by $13 per ton and $35 per ton, respectively.
In terms of 25% broken rice, there were mixed fluctuations during the trading session on August 28. In particular, this type of rice from Vietnam increased by $5 to $628 per ton; Thai rice decreased by $2 to $563 per ton; and Pakistani rice also increased by $5 to reach $533, yet it remains $95 per ton lower than the corresponding Vietnamese variety.
In the domestic market, after a slight adjustment, during the week from August 17 to 25 (the latest update from VFA), rice prices uniformly rebounded. Notably, ordinary paddy rice witnessed the lowest increase at 133 Vietnamese dong/kg, while premium rice type 1 experienced the highest surge at 313 Vietnamese dong/kg.
Specifically, the average price of ordinary paddy rice at the field was at 7,895 Vietnamese dong/kg, ordinary rice in stock at 9,217 Vietnamese dong/kg, premium broken rice type 1 at 12,704 Vietnamese dong/kg, premium white rice type 1 at 14,838 Vietnamese dong/kg, 5% broken rice at 14,707 Vietnamese dong/kg, 15% broken rice at 14,442 Vietnamese dong/kg, and 25% broken rice at 14,142 Vietnamese dong/kg.
VFA also reported that from August 1 to 25, 52 vessels had arrived at Ho Chi Minh City port, queuing to purchase rice with an estimated quantity of 483,600 tons.
According to data from the Department of Crop Production (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), as of August 25, the Summer-Autumn crop 2023 in the Mekong Delta region had harvested 1.017 million hectares out of a total of 1.482 million hectares of sown area, with an estimated output of 6.034 million tons of rice. The Winter-Spring crop 2023 had sown 490,000 out of 700,000 hectares of the planned area and harvested 25,000 hectares.
Recently, in an exchange with PV.VietNamNet, Mr. Phạm Thái Bình – Chairman of the Board of Directors of Trung An High-Tech Agriculture Joint Stock Company – stated that the purchasing price of paddy rice in the domestic market is currently higher than the current export price.
According to him, the prices of various types of rice have all risen to nearly 8,000 Vietnamese dong/kg. At this price level, if converted to exported rice, it is equivalent to a price of $670-680 per ton, whereas the export price of 5% broken rice is currently at $638 per ton (as of August 25). If companies purchase paddy rice and export rice at the present time, they would incur losses of about $30-40 per ton.
Therefore, the majority of businesses have temporarily halted paddy rice purchases, delayed delivery schedules for importing partners, and negotiated for price adjustments, although these requests have been scarcely approved.
For small orders and traditional customers, businesses are proposing to extend the delivery period until the Spring crop to strike a balance between both parties, Mr. Bình added.