Vietnam looks to Africa for rice revenues

Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnamese experts are forecasting a continued surge in rice exports
to Africa in 2009 after shipments to this market rose to 22 percent of the
country's total in 2008 from just 7.8 percent in 2007.

They pointed to reasonable requirements in terms of quality, no major changes in
trade policies, and favourable economic developments in some markets in Africa
as signs of a second consecutive bumper year.

African countries import around 1 billion USD of rice per year, and demand is on the
rise as local supply is insufficient amid rising populations.

In 2008, Vietnam saw a sharp drop in its rice sales to Asia , traditionally its
primary market, as exports dropped from 78 percent of the total in 2007 to 59
percent.

Indonesia , which previously accounted for around 24 percent of Vietnam 's rice
exports, slashed its order of 1 million tonnes in 2007, to 76,000 tonnes in 2008.

The Philippines remained Vietnam 's top importer last year, with around 1.6
million tonnes, 35.3 percent of export volume, followed by Malaysia and Cuba .

In the first quarter of this year, rice export revenues hit 785 million USD, a surge
of 76 percent year on year, thanks largely to last year's food price surge.

According to the Cultivation Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development, Vietnam expects to have 4.5-5 million tonnes of rice available for
export this year.

Also a boon to rice revenues, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is anticipating
further increases in rice prices, as the product is the primary staple of nearly 3
billion people around the world.-Enditem