Description
Vietnam’s Rice Industry
Vietnam is rich in rice, tropical crops and aquatic products and is a major exporter of agricultural products in Southeast Asia, and the third largest exporter of rice in the world.
According to CRI’s analysis, Vietnam’s rice export value reached USD3.07 billion in 2020, and rice has become a bright spot in Vietnam’s agricultural products exports. This is a remarkable achievement of the rice industry for many years, especially in the context of natural disasters and COVID-19 epidemic that hit Vietnam’s agriculture in 2020 in terms of production and export.
In 2020, Vietnam’s total rice production was 42.7 million tons, meeting the demand for domestic consumption, processing, poultry and livestock feed, and export, etc. In 2020, its rice exports grew against the backdrop of a decline in exports of many of Vietnam’s long-dominant agricultural products due to the COVID-19 epidemic.
Notably, the bright spot of the country’s rice exports was not in terms of production, but in terms of price. According to CRI’s analysis, in 2020, the average price of Vietnam’s rice exports increased by 13%, compared to the same period in 2019, reaching USD496 per ton.
In early December 2020, the price of Vietnam’s rice with 5% crushing was USD493 to USD497 per ton, which is USD20 higher than that of Thai’s rice and USD120 higher than that of Indian rice. This is the highest price in the history of Vietnam’s rice exports, indicating that the brand value of Vietnam’s rice has increased significantly.
Since the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) came into force on August 1, 2020, the rice exports have rapidly seen an upturn. According to EVFTA, the EU provides Vietnam with 80,000 tons of rice for export at 0% tax rate annually (including 30,000 tons of milled rice, 20,000 tons of unmilled rice and 30,000 tons of aromatic rice).
For rice from Vietnam, the EU will reduce the import duty rate to zero in the coming years. Taking advantage of the above, from September 2020, Vietnam started to sell rice to the EU at a much higher price than before. Specifically, before EVFTA came into effect, the prices of ST20 rice and Jasmine rice exported to the EU were USD800 and USD520 per ton, respectively, while now the prices are over USD1,000 and USD600, respectively.
According to CRI’s analysis, there are three reasons for the rise in Vietnam’s rice prices. Firstly, the government issued an agricultural restructuring proposal, by which the rice structure has been strongly adjusted, changing the rice cultivation protocols, i.e., paying more attention to improving rice quality rather than increasing production.
Around 2015, Vietnam’s quality rice seeds accounted for only 35%-40% of the total seeds, while in 2020 the Chart reached 75%-80%, and even in some places, the usage rate of quality rice seeds is as high as 90%.
Secondly, Vietnam has signed many FTAs such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Europe-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) with many countries, which creates conditions for a breakthrough in Vietnam’s rice exports. Third, many industries were affected by the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020, but the market demand for food has not decreased.
According to CRI’s analysis, the Jiulong River Plain is the center of rice cultivation in Vietnam, contributing 50% of rice production and 95% of rice exports to Vietnam’s agriculture.
In 2020, the Jiulong River Plain cultivated more than 1.5 million hectares of rice per season, with an average yield of 6 tons per hectare and an annual rice production of more than 24 million tons. Furthermore, its winter-spring rice production is expected to reach 10 million tons from 2020 to 2021.
CRI expects Vietnam’s rice exports to continue to rise in both volume and value in 2022-2030.
Topics covered:
- Overview of Vietnam’s Rice Industry
- Economic and Policy Environment of Vietnam’s Rice Industry
- What is the Impact of COVID-19 on Vietnam’s Rice Industry?
- Imports volumes and values of Vietnam’s Rice, 2016-2021
- Forecast on Imports volumes and values of Vietnam’s Rice, 2022-2030
- Analysis of Major Rice Companies in Vietnam
- Key Drivers and Market Opportunities in Vietnam’s Rice Industry
- What are the key drivers, challenges, and opportunities for the rice industry in Vietnam during 2022-2030?
- What is the expected revenue of Vietnam rice market during 2022-2030?
- What are the strategies adopted by the key players in the market to increase their market share in the industry?
- Which segment of Vietnam’s rice market is expected to dominate the market in 2030?
- What are the major adverse factors facing the rice industry in Vietnam?
Related reports:
US Packaged Dry Rice Market (2019 – 2024)
Research Report on Paddy and Rice Import in China, 2019-2023
