Vietnamese rice traders are growing more concerned about a lack of export contracts for next year as few deals have been clinched with importers, said a leading food trader at a meeting on Monday.
Cao Thi Ngoc Hoa, deputy general director of Vietnam Southern Food Corporation (Vinafood 2), said only 220,000 tons of rice have been contracted for delivery in 2012.

Speaking at a regular online conference organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Hoa said normally at this time of the year, some 1.1 million tons of rice should have been signed for export in the following year.

“Because the Vietnamese rice prices are now still higher than those of India and Myanmar by US$100 per ton, several customers have recently switched to importing rice from these countries. Lately, we lost a contract to export 250,000 tons of rice as an Indonesian partner switched to Indian rice,” she said.

At present, the local 5% broken rice is sold at US$570-575 per ton, while that from India is offered at only US$450-470.

The rice export market was estimated to not be easy even when rice export of Thailand had strongly declined after the flooding in the country. Hoa suggested calculation and adjustment of export rice prices to be appropriate with each period, in line with the market buying prices rather than clinging to Thai rice prices.

Currently, the Ministry of Industry and Trade was promoting the rice export contracts with Indonesia as well as seeking other markets besides the traditional markets of Indonesia and the Philippines.

The trade ministry predicted by this year’s end, the country would have exported some 7-7.2 million tons of rice.

In related development, at the review conference on rice export in the January-November period held in Tien Giang Province on Monday, Chairman Truong Thanh Phong of Vietnam Food Association (VFA) warned that Vietnam might lose the major rice importers being Indonesia and the Philippines to India given the price disparity.

Phong, however, ask local foot traders not to turn reckless and to hurriedly sign new rice deals at low prices.

Phong said the association would work with the Chinese business association on the establishment of a joint venture to export rice to China, which is considered a potential market along the traditional ones.

Meanwhile, according to Le Truong Son, general director of Docimexco Dong Thap, local firms should stay calm since Vietnam and Thailand are holding 50% of the global rice trade. In addition, Thailand has announced to reduce the export volume from 10.5 million tons in 2011 to 8.5 million next year, as part of the country’s plan to subsidize the rice prices for farmers.

SGT