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.