Vietnam’s rice export expected to hit 7 million tonnes in 2023

Tuesday, 28/02/2023 15:54
Vietnam’s rice export this year is expected to benefit from many favourable conditions, including high global demand, to reach 7 million tonnes, reported Vietnam News Agency.
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Illustrative image (Photo: congthuong.vn)

The January report by the US Department of Agriculture forecast the global rice trade in 2023 will decrease about 4% from last year.

Large rice exporters are predicted to witness declines, including Argentina, Brazil, Cambodia, China, the EU, India, Laos, Malaysia, Pakistan, Paraguay, Russia, Senegal, Tanzania, Turkey, Uruguay, and the US. Among them, India and Pakistan may see the sharpest falls, down by some 2.1 million tonnes in total, due to lower output and domestic market stabilisation policies.

Climate change impacts and drought in the US, Europe, and China are posing a risk of supply shortages, the Foreign Trade Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade told a recent conference on rice export.

Aside from rising global demand, improved quality has also boosted importing countries’ demand for Vietnamese rice, the agency noted, expecting an export volume of 6.5 - 7 million tonnes in 2023.

Import demand in traditional markets like the Philippines and Africa will stay stable in the first half of this year as they are increasing food stockpiles, according to Chairman of the Vietnam Food Association Nguyen Ngoc Nam.

Nguyen Viet Anh, Director General of the Phuong Dong food company, said businesses are now highly optimistic, and that since 2019, the sector has no longer needed support to sell out the grain, but sometimes even run out of rice to meet demand.

Last year, Vietnam exported nearly 7.2 million tonnes of rice, gaining 3.49 billion USD.

February CPI up 0.45% as petrol, housing prices increase

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Illustrative photo (Source: VNA)

Vietnam’s consumer price index (CPI) in February grew by 0.45 % month-on-month, fueled by higher prices of oil, petrol, gas, and rental houses, Vietnam News Agency quoted figures of the General Statistics Office said on February 28.

This month’s CPI and core inflation increased by 4.6% and 5.08% year-on-year, respectively.

Among the 11 main commodity groups, five marked a month-on-month increase in prices, and the rest registered a decline.

Transport services reported the highest rise of 2.11 % mostly due mainly to a 5.66% increase in oil and petrol cost, followed by housing and construction materials at 1.81% partly because of gas prices being up 14.56% since February 1.

The prices of other goods and services; household equipment and appliances; and medicine and health services inched up by 0.12%, 0.09%, 0.02%, respectively.

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Illustrative photo (Source: VNA)

In contrast, the cost of education; restaurant services; beverage and tobacco; post and telecommunications services; apparel, footwear and hat; culture, entertainment and tourism were cut by 0.57%, 0.17%, 0.12%, 0.08%, and 0.02%, respectively.

Vietnam posts trade surplus of 2.82 billion USD over first two months

Vietnam is estimated to have recorded a trade surplus of 2.82 billion USD during the initial two months of the year, VOV News quoted the latest report released by the General Statistics Office (GSO) on February 28.

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Photo for illustration. (Source: VOV)

February alone witnessed the country’s export turnover surge by 9.8% to 25.88 billion USD from the previous month, witnessing a trade surplus of 2.3 billion USD. Of the figure, the domestic economic and foreign-invested sectors grossed 6.08 billion USD and 19.8 billion USD, up 11.7% and 9.3%, respectively.

In the first two months of the year, the country’s export turnover dropped by 10.4% to 49.44 billion USD against the same period from last year. Eight items brought in an export turnover of over 1 billion USD each, accounting for 69.9% of the total export turnover.

Meanwhile, February’s import turnover stood at an estimated 23.58 billion USD, down 6.7% year on year. Of which, the domestic economic and FDI sectors witnessed declines of 7.2% and 6.4%, respectively.

Generally, the import turnover of goods during the two-month period endured a decline of 16% to 46.62 billion USD against the same period from last year.

The United States remains the largest Vietnamese export market with an estimated turnover of 13.1 billion USD, while China represents the largest importer of Vietnamese goods with an estimated turnover of 14.6 billion USD.

Vietnamese travel firms optimise Japanese tourism rebound

Many Vietnamese travel companies are taking actions to make use of tourism recovery in Japan as cherry blossoms in the Far East country reach their peak between March and April, reported VOV News.

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Vietnamese customers seek tour packages to Japan (Photo:tuoitre.vn)

According to the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), the number of Vietnamese travelers to the Japanese market has soared, with an estimated 51,500 arrivals recorded in January alone.

This figure stood at 12,000 times more compared to same period from 2021 and up by a staggering 45.6% compared to 2019 before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This growth can be considered as even more remarkable in the context that the number of foreign visitors to Japan during this period dropped by 44.3%, with about only 1.5 million arrivals.

JNTO said that Vietnam still ranked first in terms of the number of foreign visitors to Japan, affirming that the country is among the Far East country’s key source markets for tourism.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese travel firm Ben Thanh Tourist reported Vietnamese tourists are extremely excited at visiting Japan during the cherry blossom season and Vietnam’s national holiday on April 30 and May 1.

Currently, the firm is offering a number of tours to Japan with different destinations at various prices, meeting the growing demand of Vietnamese customers.

Representative from travel agency TST tourist also shared that the number of Vietnamese visitors to Japan will increase even more if visa procedures become more convenient and faster.

During a recent meeting held with Vietnamese and Japanese businesses, Consul General of Japan in Ho Chi Minh City Watanabe Nobuhiro said that this year there will be a number of activities to be held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties between the two countries. Japan will focus on building relationships and co-operation with travel companies, airlines and media channels, aiming to quickly restore the number of Vietnamese tourists to Japan back to pre-pandemic levels./.

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