'Viet Nam should regulate rice exports'

Relevant ministries and rice exporters are still waiting for the Prime Minister to hand down new rice export regulations for March.

The new regulations have been proposed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Viet Nam Food Association and several Mekong Delta provinces, the hub of the country's rice farming.

The regulations would ensure the nation's food security while protecting the rights of exporters and farmers, Bien said.

However, Bien urged the government to caution about prices and volumes surrounding this year's rice exports given the long period of cold weather in the North.

Viet Nam's rice exports last year were strictly supervised in order to ensure national food security as the country's central provinces suffered food shortages due to flooding.

Deputy Director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Cultivation Department Phan Huy Thong said it was not possible yet to forecast winter/spring rice yields in northern provinces.

"We have to wait until mid-March, when the replanting of paddy seedlings are basically complete, to be sure about the yield," Thong said.

Meanwhile, the Viet Nam Food Association forecast that global rice prices would rise due to increasing world demand. The association reported that rice demands in Africa and the Middle East had surged since the early months of the year.

Moreover, he said food shortages could occur in several rice exporting countries, like China, which has also suffered severe bouts of cold weather.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnamese rice export prices have significantly risen since early this year. As of Feb 4, a tonne of Vietnamese exported rice was priced at US$400, up $100 from a year ago.

Yet Viet Nam could only meet part of the world's demand as rice quantities were likely to stay the same or even decrease compared with last year, said Bien.

However, Viet Nam planned to prioritise rice sales to long-term major buyers to maintain market shares, he said.

Thong said rice for export in the country would be available as of March or April given that the southern provinces had reported a bumper winter/spring crop.

The Viet Nam Food Association has so far recommended domestic rice exporters to cease signing export contracts for February and wait for higher prices.

Vietnamese rice exports in Jan/Feb have been reportedly favourable. Thanks to winning a bid to export 300,000 tonnes of rice to the Philippines recently, domestic rice exporters have signed contracts to ship 700,000 tonnes of rice abroad this year.

The country last year exported 4.5 million tonnes of rice, a 2 per cent decrease over the previous year. However, the sale was up 15 per cent in value due to the price hike of exported rice. Last year, a tonne of Vietnamese exported rice stood at $295 on average, $41 higher than the previous year, according to Ministry of Industry and Trade statistics.

 - By Business Desk

Viet Nam News

Publication Date: 21-02-2008