Vietnam raises rice exports

Vietnam raises rice exports

HANOI (AFP): New market openings in the United States and the Asia are likely to boost Vietnamese rice export to a new record this year despite floods that look set to devastate the harvest in the Mekong Delta, a report said yesterday.

Vietnam exported 1.6 million tons in the first nine months, the Tuoi Tre newspaper quoted a report from the Ministry of Agriculture as saying. Exports last year were at 1.8 million tons.

Exporters were confident of selling another 600,000 tons before the end of the year due to contracts this year to supply 700,000 tons to the United States, 500,000 tons to Malaysia and 300,000 tons to Brazil, the report said.

Other long-term deals with Iran and Malaysia and the emergency sale of rice to Indonesia have freed up credit and boosted liquidity in cash-strapped trading firms.

Firms have already signed deals to sell 1.5 million tons of rice next year, the ministry said. The government is now concentrating its efforts on drawing in foreign investment in processing to improve the quality of the product and boost the value of sales.