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Now, Vietnam begins buying higher grade rice from India – 13/04/2021

Hanoi imports 5% and 10% broken rice to meet its domestic demand

Vietnam, which resumed rice imports from India after decades purchasing lower priced 100 per cent broken variety, has now begun to buy better quality grades to meet its other domestic needs.

“Vietnam is buying five per cent broken white rice from us since its production is lower. This five per cent broken is used for supply to its defence forces and industrial users,” said Agri Commodities Exporters Association (ACEA) President.
Vietnam has bought the five per cent brokens at $410-420 a tonne (₹ 30,800-31,550) a tonne, “Vietnam is buying 10 per cent brokens too from us. It has been buying continuously from us like China. Its monthly imports of rice are around one lakh tonnes,” said The Rice Exporters Association (TREA) President.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA), in its grain and feed annual report, said that Vietnam has bought 100 per cent broken rice from India at $310 ( ₹23,300) a tonne, at least $130 (₹9,775) lower than its own offers of broken rice.

100 per cent broken rice imports

Between December last year and January, Vietnam had imported about 65,000 tonnes of the 100 per cent broken rice from India, the USDA said quoting Hanoi Customs statistics. The rice was imported for preparing rice noodles, processing flour, brewing, and feed manufacturing.

While the USDA said that Vietnam would import five lakh tonnes (lt) during the current marketing year ending July, TREA said the South-East Asian nation could import about 10-12 lakh tonnes of rice at the rate of one lakh tonnes a month. “Vietnam is focussing only on producing premium varieties only that fetch good prices in the global market,” said ACEA. The USDA said that Vietnam high quality rice cultivation increased to 74 per cent last year, up 24 percentage points over the last five years.