Bags of rice loaded onto a ship for export. — VNA/VNS Photo Danh Lam

HÀ NỘI — The volume of rice exported last month is estimated at 700,000 tonnes with a value of US$362 million.

This brought the total volume of rice exported in the first four months of this year to 1.9 million tonnes, worth $1.01 billion, down 10.8 per cent in volume but up 1.2 per cent in value year-on-year.

The Agro Processing and Market Development Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development reported that the Philippines was the largest rice consumption market of Việt Nam in the first three months of this year with 36.3 per cent market share.

The volume and value to the market reached 411,580 tonnes and $219.96 million, respectively, down 30.7 per cent in volume and 14.5 per cent in value year-on-year.

Markets with a sharp increase in rice export value in the three months were Ivory Coast with a 2.7 times rise and Australia with year-on-year growth of 66 per cent.

A market where the rice export value fell significantly was Mozambique (down 53.5 per cent). The average rice export price in the first three months reached $547.8 per tonne, growing 18.6 per cent over the same period last year.

Regarding the types of rice, in the first three months of 2021, the export value of white rice accounted for 39.3 per cent of the total turnover; jasmine rice and fragrant rice accounted for 36 per cent and sticky rice accounted for 22 per cent and other types of rice made up about three per cent.

On the world market, Việt Nam's rice price reached $508 per tonne at the beginning of last month and fell to $488 per tonne at the end of the month.

The main reason is because the winter-spring crop has been harvested, therefore, the demand for raw materials dropped, waiting for the coming summer-autumn crop.

Poor weather conditions are forecast in many parts of the world this year, resulting in a decrease in food production in many countries, and demand for rice imports expected to increase this year.

The European market is forecasted to be livelier thanks to the EU - Việt Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), in which Việt Nam is an important rice trading partner. — VNS