Vietnam 2010 rice exports may hit record high

Published: 21 Sep 2010 01:14:01 PST

HANOI, Sept 21 - Vietnam, the world's second-largest rice exporter after Thailand, has secured contracts so far this year to ship a record high of 6.6 million tonnes of the grain, a state-run newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The country is capable of exporting 7.2 million tonnes in 2010, including 5.8 million tonnes produced this year and 1.4 million in stock carried forward from 2009, the Rural Today newspaper said, quoting a Vietnam Food Association report.

"As domestic rice stocks are sufficient, the level of 7.2 million tonnes could be attained," Nguyen Tri Ngoc, head of the Agriculture Ministry's Crops Department, was quoted as saying by the newspaper, which is run by the Vietnam Farmers Association.

Ngoc said Vietnam should seize the opportunity to export more rice at good prices. Pakistan's crops have been damaged by floods and India is largely absent from the rice market.

Vietnam shipped a record 6 million tonnes of rice in 2009. Rice is the largest foreign exchange earner among the country's agricultural products.

It is expected to export up to 5.4 million tonnes of rice in the first nine months of this year, a rise of nearly 9 percent from a year ago, according to the official Vietnam News Agency on Monday.

Major buyers of Vietnamese rice include the Philippines, African countries, Cuba, Iraq, Indonesia andMalaysia. Bangladesh also started buying the grain again this year.