Vietnam sells rice to RI

Vietnam sells rice to RI

HANOI (Dow Jones): Vietnam will sell 400,000 metric tons of rice to Indonesia in two deliveries, with half to be shipped late this year, an official from the Ministry of Agriculture said Monday.

He confirmed press reports that the deal will go ahead and said the second shipment will take place early in 1999. The official didn't provide information as to the financing arrangements in this government-to-government deal and didn't say what kind of rice will be shipped.

The export will be done through the state-owned Southern Food Corp. - also known as Vinafood II - which will work with local exporters to raise the total amount.

Vietnam is the second largest rice exporter in the world, after Thailand. But falling production due to bad weather means it may not meet its target of exporting 4.0 million tons in 1998. In 1997, Vietnam exported 3.5 million tons of rice.