Hanoi (VNA) 🧔- The price of Vietnamese 5% broken rice rose to 515-520 USD/tonne on March 25, the highest level since December 20211, from 510-515 USD/tonne last week, while new orders saw a slight increase.

Business Recorder (Pakistan) website quoted a trader as saying that "demand is increasing and more ships are docking at Ho Chi Minh City port to load rice. Rice prices are expected to remain high as global demand for the grain remains strong amid the COVID-19 pandemic.” From mid-2020 until now, Vietnam's average rice export price has been continuously standing at a high level and this will last through 2021. In January 2021, Vietnam's rice export price averaged 550 USD/tonne, up 3.4 percent compared to the level of December 2020 and increased by more than 15 percent over the same period last year. After many years of restructuring the rice sector, the quality of Vietnamese rice has been significantly improved, gradually affirming its brand name in the world market. The project has helped farmers and rice exporters go on the right track, focusing on improving rice fields, using high-quality seeds, suitable for customers' needs, so they can be sold at high prices. According to the forecast of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), with the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for food and food reserves is expected to remain high. It is forecast that in 2021, global rice imports will reach 44.79 million tonnes, up 1 percent compared to 2020; in which, countries that are expected to continue to increase rice imports are the Philippines, by 13 percent, Cote d'Ivoire by 9.1 percent, Ghana by 5.6 percent and the EU by 2.1 percent. These are the main export markets of Vietnamese rice. On that basis, the Vietnam Food Association forecasts that rice exports in 2021 will continue to prosper. Main export markets of Vietnam such as the Philippines, Southeast Asian and African countries continue to sign contracts to buy rice from Vietnam which are specific examples. The rice market in Asia is also active again when a series of very potential customers such as China and Bangladesh are actively buying. Recently, the Southern Food Corporation won a contract to export 50,000 tonnes of 5 percent broken rice to Bangladesh, a country traditionally the third largest rice producer in the world but has switched to importing rice because of floods happening in the country. Many other countries have a great demand for fragrant rice and sticky rice which are advantageous commodities of Vietnam. Vietnam's rice industry is gradually expanding exports to consumer markets for premium rice and specialty rice such as fragrant rice, glutinous rice, brown rice, organic rice, etc. with a higher selling price of 20-50 percent compared to white rice. It is expected to bring added value to businesses and rice farmers. Besides, Vietnamese rice also has more opportunities to export to some markets that have signed FTAs. According to experts, Vietnam is expected to continue to maintain its position as the world's third rice exporter. According to a forecast by financial services firm Fitch Solutions, rice production in 2021 may reach more than 27.4 million tonnes, corresponding to a growth of 1.1 percent compared to 2020. Vietnam’s rice exports in 2021is expected to increase slightly, up 1.6 percent compared to 2020. The constantly improved quality of rice is the basis for businesses to expect that rice exports will soon prosper and reach a new milestone compared to the figure of nearly 3.1 billion USD in 2020./.