Chinese Demand Hikes Vietnam Prices

Vietnamese deputy Agriculture Minister Nguyen Thanh Bien has revealed that bulk orders for rice by Chinese traders are driving up rice prices in Vietnam. According to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), Chinese traders have bought some 600,000 MT of Vietnamese rice since April. In the same period, the price of paddy rice rose from 3,500 dong (0.19 dollars) to 4,600 dong (0.25 dollars) per kilogram. China is not usually one of the major importers of Vietnamese rice, and rarely buys any later than May, Vietnamese media said. The higher Chinese demand is not expected to affect Vietnamese food security. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development estimates the country will harvest some 39 million MT of paddy rice this year, and can export between 7.2 and 7.4 million MT of processed rice.