Overflowing Orders
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has announced that this year South Korea can organize 9 bidding rounds to import rice from several countries. In the first half of the year, this country will hold bidding rounds to buy rice 4 times, in February, March, April, and May.
Meanwhile, in the second half of the year, South Korea plans to open bidding rounds for importing a total of 3 to 5 times, depending on the domestic supply situation. Specifically, this country allocated a total quota of 55,112 tons for Vietnam.
Mr. Pham Thai Binh – Chairman of Trung An High-Tech Agriculture Joint Stock Company said that in the past, South Korea allowed Vietnam to freely bid. However, due to the poor quality of the delivered goods, South Korea issued a warning to the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Vietnam. Therefore, South Korea switched to allocate a certain annual quota instead.
According to Mr. Binh, the early announcement of South Korea about the rice import quota will help Vietnamese businesses be more proactive and have the opportunity to promote high-quality rice to the South Korean market this year.
South Korea has just announced plans to bid for rice imports, with more than 55,000 tons allocated to Vietnam
It’s not just South Korea, but the Philippines is also planning to import rice in 2024. According to the economic research agency of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), in 2024, it is highly likely that the Philippines will be the world’s largest rice importing country, with a record high expected volume of 3.8 million tons.
Mr. Nguyen Van Don – Director of Viet Hung Co., Ltd. said that he has received many orders from Filipino partners since the beginning of the year.
According to Mr. Don, Vietnamese rice accounts for over 80% of the total rice imported by the Philippines. In previous years, the Philippines bought rice through government-to-government negotiations, and Vietnam competed with Thailand as the two major rice exporters to the Philippines. However, since 2019, when the Philippines issued and enforced laws allowing free rice exports, lifting quotas and restrictions on rice imports, Vietnam has surpassed Thailand to become the leading rice supplier, occupying the number one position in rice exports to the Philippines market.
“In this market, Vietnamese rice has the advantage of good quality, reasonable price, and is competitive, suitable for the taste and diverse needs of consumers, especially the large population with average and low incomes,” said Mr. Don.
With convenient geographical proximity for transportation, Mr. Don predicted that rice exports to the Filipino market will continue to flourish, creating favorable conditions for the rice industry to have a prosperous year.
Winning Many Large Bidding Packages
A particularly good piece of news for Vietnamese rice businesses is that the Indonesian national logistics agency (Bulog) has just announced the results of bidding to supply 500,000 tons of rice, of which Vietnam has won 5 bidding packages
Many countries have plans to import rice early, bringing hope for businesses and people to continue to have a prosperous year
Accordingly, Vietnamese businesses have won 8 out of 17 bidding packages to import 5% broken rice. Specifically, Loc Troi Corporation, Northern Food Corporation (Vinafood 1), and Southern Food Corporation (Vinafood 2) each won 2 bidding packages; Kien Giang Import-Export Corporation and Phat Tai Food Company each won 1 bidding package. The winning businesses will have to deliver the goods in February and March, the time when Vietnam’s spring harvest of rice is in full swing.
The Vietnam Food Association believes that winning large rice export bid packages at the beginning of the year is a positive sign for people and businesses that the spring harvest is expected to be successful after the Lunar New Year holiday. According to the plan, this year Indonesia will import about 3 million tons of rice, nearly equivalent to the Philippines – the world’s largest rice importing country, so the opportunities for businesses are even more open than in 2023. Moreover, the price of Vietnamese rice is currently maintained at a high level of $642/ton.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the 2023-2024 spring crop, the Mekong Delta region will sow nearly 1.5 million hectares of rice with an expected output of over 10 million tons focusing on fragrant and high-quality varieties to serve domestic and export demand. Meanwhile, many countries are increasing imports to compensate for the shortage.
In just January, Vietnam exported about 500,000 tons of rice, worth $296 million, an increase of 39.4% in volume and 59% in value compared to the same period last year. In the context of high food demand, there is still room for Vietnam to increase supply, taking advantage of great opportunities.
