Rice prices increase continuously

The recent increase in export rice prices has led to a continuous increase in domestic retail rice prices.

Mr. Tran Tri Hieu - owner of Ngoc Phuc rice dealer (Hoang Mai, Hanoi) said that the continuous increase in domestic rice prices in recent days has made him feel worried and not daring to import goods to sell.

“For about 2 weeks now, rice prices have been increasing continuously, most types of rice have increased by about 7-10% and currently rice prices are very high. When I go to import goods and see such high rice prices, I do not dare to import or import in very small quantities to both trade and wait for rice prices to decrease,” said Mr. Hieu.

In particular, since the beginning of the week, Bac Huong rice has increased by nearly 20,000 VND/yen. "Currently, the rice warehouse in Yen My, Hung Yen is distributing the price to Hanoi traders at about 162,000 - 165,000 VND/yen with the condition that they must buy from 1 ton or more, an increase of about 20,000 VND/yen".

According to Mr. Hieu, the domestic rice market is no stranger to the issue of rice being subject to daily floor prices. Because rice prices are constantly increasing, wholesalers often stipulate that the dealer price is only valid for the day.

“For example, a type of rice A, today the floor price is 18,000 VND/kg, this price will only be maintained until 5pm the same day. The next day, the floor price may be 20,000 - 21,000 VND/kg. Currently, rice warehouses are also applying this type of floor price,” said Mr. Hieu.

Mr. Hieu said: "We have to increase the price of rice sold to consumers, but there must be a delay. If we increase it suddenly, customers will react." This is also the reason why he is currently stopping importing some types of rice to wait for a price reduction.

The retail price of Bac Huong rice at this agent is currently at 19,000 VND/kg, an increase of 1,800 VND/kg compared to the beginning of last week. This is also the type of rice with the strongest price increase among the types of retail rice.

Some other types of rice such as Dien Bien jasmine rice are currently priced at 21,000 VND/kg, Japanese rice at 23,000 VND/kg, Hai Hau rice at 21,000 VND/kg, Thai jasmine rice at 22,000 VND/kg... increasing by about 500 - 1,200 VND/kg.

Mr. Huu Thinh, the owner of a rice dealer in Dong Da (Hanoi) also said: "The wholesaler sent me daily price quotes, I saw that the rice price has been increasing continuously in recent days. My dealer still has a lot of imported rice, so I am still waiting and have not imported more goods, so the selling price to consumers has not increased yet."

The latest update from the Vietnam Food Association shows that the price of 5% broken Vietnamese rice is at 623 USD/ton, up 5 USD/ton. Compared to early October, this type of rice has increased 10 USD/ton. The price of 25% broken rice also increased 5 USD/ton, to 608 USD/ton.

Notably, the export price of Vietnamese rice is increasing the gap compared to Thai rice, being 42 USD/ton higher for 5% broken rice and 75 USD/ton higher for 25% broken rice.

According to rice exporters, rice export prices have increased again due to increased demand in Asian and African markets. In particular, the recent announcement by the Indonesian government that it needs to buy an additional 1.5 million tons of rice from now until the end of the year.