Vietnam nears rice stockpile goal, expands target

The Vietnam Food Association said local businesses bought 790,000 tons of rice in the first two-and-a-half months of the year, accounting for 79 percent of a targeted 1-million-ton stockpile planned for the first half. On the good news, the association said it would increase the 6-month stockpile target to 1.5 million tons. The association said the April goal would be reached by the end of this month thanks to a healthy Winter-Spring rice harvest. The association said they paid about VND4,200-4,500, or US$0.22-0.24 a kilogram, for unhusked rice used in the stockpile. It said local businesses had paid 14-20 percent of the loans they had used to fulfill the plan. The association said local businesses would buy an additional 500,000 tons for the second stage of the plan next month.