Can Tho exports rice to Iran for the first time

Vietnam’s rice exports to foreign markets are expected to continue to rise

The information was announced by Deputy Director of Can Tho Department of Industry and Trade Huynh Trung Tru at a meeting to discuss the condition of local exports-imports, on October 4.

According to Tru, in August, an Iranian partner arrived in Can Tho in order to sign a deal with a local rice trader to export approximately 100,000 tonnes of Can Tho rice to Iran by the end of this year. This is the first time that Can Tho rice has reached this market.

He predicted that with the current trend, the demand for rice imports in several markets, such as Bangladesh, the Philippines and Iran will continue to increase sharply, while demand remains very high in other markets, such as China and Singapore.

Since the beginning this year, rice exports have witnessed optimistic results and forecasts until the end of the year also suggest positive progress for the key product. Specifically, for the Bangladesh market, the South Asian country needs to import around 500,000 tonnes. In this month alone, they have requested 250,000-300,000 tonnes of rice and Can Tho businesses may submit their bids to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) for this volume, Tru said.

If rice exports to Iran gain favourable results, with a stable quality of rice, a long term deal could be reached next year, bringing about great advantages for the local construction of raw materials and improving the standard of living for farmers, Tru added.

In the first nine months of 2017, the total rice export volume in the locality reached over 638,000 tonnes, an increase of 22% over the same period last year, generating a turnover of US$262 million, up by almost 20%.

According to a VFA report, as of the end of August, the total contracted rice exports reached over 5.1 million tonnes, of which nearly 3.9 million tonnes have already been delivered to their partners.

With the positive export contracts as mentioned above, VFA forecasts that the country's rice exports will reach approximately 5.6 million tonnes for the whole year, of which the total exported volume in the last quarter would reach 1.8 million tonnes.

Regarding the Can Tho export-import situation, the city’s Department of Industry and Trade stated that turnover in the first nine months reached over US$1 billion, making up 75.8% of the set plan for the whole year and up 16.9% compared with the same period last year.

During the period, the export of goods and services in Can Tho reached nearly US$1.3 billion, accounting for 76.4% of the year plan and up 16.3% annually.