Hanoi (dpa) – Vietnam, the world's second-largest rice exporter, will buy up and stockpile one million tons of rice from the winter-spring crop to help boost prices to farmers, state media reported Tuesday. Exporters have signed fewer contracts with overseas buyers this year, driving down prices as farmers in the Mekong Delta begin harvesting their crops, Tien Phong newspaper reported. Major importers have been switching to cheaper rice from India, Pakistan and Myanmar. Vietnam signed contracts to export 1.5 million tons in the first 45 days of the year, down 23 percent compared with the same period last year. The country already has a stockpile of nearly 2 million tons. The government has set an export target of 7.3 million tons of rice this year. But by mid-February exports were only 430,000 tons for 226 million dollars, down 47 per cent in quantity and 44 per cent in revenue compared with the same period last year. The abundant crop has not helped the market. The Ministry of Agriculture has told members of the Vietnam Food Association to buy rice from farmers from March 15 to April 4, and has promised low-interest credit to help them do this, Thanh Nien newspaper said. The rice would be held for three months before being released back into the market. The measure should provide farmers with a profit of at least 30 percent, the report said. Vietnam shipped a record 7.1 million tons of rice last year, up 5 percent from 2010, but the competition was looking stronger this year. African customers were turning towards Indian and Pakistani rice, which was selling for 350 dollars per ton, compared with 390 dollars per ton for Vietnam's cheapest rice. The Philippines, also historically a big importer, was taking measures to encourage more domestic production. But Vietnam's exporters were likely to benefit from less competition from Thailand, the world's largest exporter. A Thai government's policy to guarantee prices to farmers is set to increase the price of their exports. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/lRX9A Tags: Rice, Stocks, Vietnam Section: East Asia, Food, Going Green, Latest News
