Vietnam's Rice Exports To The EU Increase Significantly, With Prices Exceeding The National Average

The European Union will continue to be a potential rice export market for Vietnamese companies in the coming period due to steady demand, especially for rice with Asian specialities. 

 

According to a recent assessment by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam's rice exports to the market have achieved positive results over the past period, thanks to the "ticket" to the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). 

 

In 2021, despite the impact of the epidemic, Vietnam's rice exports to the EU reached 60,000 tonnes, an increase of nearly 1% year-on-year, and exports amounted to US$41 million, an increase of over 20% year-on-year. Among them, Vietnamese special rice varieties ST24 and ST25 were exported to the EU market for the first time. This is an advantageous aromatic rice product that Vietnam currently has is developing. 

 

In the first 2 months of this year, Vietnam exported another 15,500 tonnes of rice to the EU market, an increase of nearly 4 times year-on-year; the export value reached US$11.7 million, an increase of 4.3 times year-on-year. In the EU, Italy jumped to the forefront of Vietnam's rice import market with a 26-fold year-on-year increase. In addition, there were a number of other key markets such as Germany, France and the Netherlands. 

 

It is worth noting that while the average price of Vietnam's rice exports fell by 12.1 per cent to US$469 per tonne in the first two months of this year, the price of Vietnam's rice exports to the EU still increased by 9 per cent to US$755 per tonne. 

 

The export price of Vietnamese rice to the EU market was higher than the national average as the rice exported to the EU market was mainly high-value fragrant rice. However, the price of Vietnamese rice exports to the EU is still quite competitive with other competitors such as Cambodia, Thailand and India.