Opportunities exist for rice exports in high-end market
Experts believe that Vietnam should focus on producing high-quality rice instead of striving to earn money from selling low-cost rice products. Soon after Vietnam began harvesting the 2016-2017 winter-spring crop, the Thai government announced it planned to sell all its stockpiled rice – estimated at 8 million tons – in the first half of 2017. According to Nguyen Van Don, director of the Tien Giang-based Viet Hung Company, on the first days of 2017, the sales were relatively satisfactory with many big contracts signed. However, in recent days no contracts have been signed. Don attributed this to the increase in domestic and export prices compared with pre-Tet days. Meanwhile, the Thai government’s announcement has also affected demand.
