Rice exports targeted at 3.5m tonnes in 9 months
Source: 06-AUG-2008 Intellasia | VNA
Aug 6, 2008 - 7:00:00 AM Vietnam expects to export 3.5 million tonnes of rice in the first nine months of the year with the August volume estimatedly hitting 400,000 tonnes.

At present, the price of Vietnamese rice ranges between US$620-US$630 per tonne, while that of Thai rice, from US$700-US$720 per tonne in the world market.

According to vice Chair of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) Tran Ba Hoan, VFA has made a proposal allowing rice exporters to get loans in foreign currency instead of Vietnam Dong to purchase rice from farmers to avoid the dong lending interest rate. With the current rates, exporters have to pay an additional US$12-US$15 for a tonne of rice each month.

The VFA has also suggested the government abolish rice export duties or increase the levied export rice price from US$600 per tonne to US$800 per tonne.