AsemconnectVietnam - In September of 2023, Indonesia spent 101.4 million USD to buy more than 166,000 tonnes of rice and became Vietnam's largest rice buying market.

The preliminary statistics figures from the General Department of Customs showed that, in September of 2023, Vietnam exported more than 605,400 tonnes of rice, earning 377.9 million USD, a slight increase of 3.8% in volume but a strong increase of 37.3% % in value compared to the same month last year.
In September of 2023, Vietnam exported 166,000 tonnes of rice to the Indonesian market, reaching 101.4 million USD, 53 times more than September of 2022. Meanwhile, the export value to the Philippines and China reached 62.7 million USD and 43.7 million USD, respectively. Thus, Indonesia officially surpassed the Philippines and China, becoming the largest customer of Vietnamese rice in September of this year.
Notably, the Vietnam Trade Office in Indonesia (under the Ministry of Industry and Trade) has just informed that Mr. Arief Prasetyo Adi - Acting Minister of Agriculture of Indonesia has confirmed to the press that Indonesia chose Vietnam and Thailand as two sources of supply for the purchase of 1.5 million tonnes of rice in the near future.
On October 10, Mr. Mokhamad Suyamto - Director of supply chain and public services of the Indonesian Logistics Agency (Preum Bulog) also confirmed that Preum Bulog will import 1.5 million tonnes of rice from Vietnam and Thailand.
All necessary licenses for the import of 1.5 million tonnes of rice have been issued by the relevant Indonesian Authorities, the import will be carried out from the end of October.
Previously, the Vietnam Trade Office in Indonesia (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said that on October 8, Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced that the amount of rice harvested in the last 6 months of 2023 was not enough to meet domestic rice demand. Therefore, the Government of this country needs an additional 1.5 million tonnes of rice reserves by the end of 2023.
Indonesia must increase rice imports because the country's agricultural production is strongly affected by the El Nino phenomenon, as well as the Government needs more rice to stabilize market rice prices.
The Indonesian Food Agency (Bulog) informed that as of September 22, the amount of rice currently in the agency's warehouse was more than 1.7 million tonnes, including 1.65 million tonnes of national reserve rice and nearly 64,000 tonnes of commercial rice.
Rice prices in Indonesia have increased sharply in recent times. Particularly on October 8, the retail price of rice was 13,200 Rp/kg (1 USD = 15,400 Rp) for medium-grade rice; Rp 14,920/kg for high quality rice.
Meanwhile, the highest retail price of rice according to regulations of the Indonesian Government is 10,900-11,800 Rp/kg for medium-grade rice and 13,900-14,800 Rp/kg for high-quality rice.
Indonesian rice price inflation in September increased by 18.4% over the same period last year, the highest level since 2014. In particular, rice prices in September increased by 5.6% compared to August and reached the highest level since February of 2018.
To make the most of this opportunity, the Vietnam Trade Office in Indonesia reminds rice exporters to follow the Ministry of Industry and Trade's instructions on exporting rice to the Indonesian market.
Specifically, rice export traders need to closely monitor the market situation and evaluate opportunities and risks to develop trading plans. Signing appropriate contracts ensures export efficiency and benefits for farmers.
In addition, businesses also need to pay attention to plans to prevent risks in price, payment and delivery in the context of the world trade situation being affected.
Market opportunities from now until the end of the year are still very bright
According to the data from the General Department of Customs, by the end of September of 2023, Vietnam exported nearly 6.42 million tonnes of rice, with a value of 3.54 billion USD. In comparison to the same period last year, rice exports increased by 19.5% in volume and 35.9% in value.
Regarding export markets, the Philippines was still the largest customer of Vietnamese rice. In the first 9 months of 2023, rice exports to this market reach 1.29 billion USD, an increase of 13% over the same period of 2022. China was Vietnam's second largest rice export market with a turnover of 495,000 USD, a sharp increase of 55.2%.
Indonesia rank third with the value of rice exported to this market reached 462.6 million USD, an increase of 1,796% over the same period last year. In addition, Vietnam's rice exports to Turkey and Chile increased dramatically by 10,608% and 2,291% respectively.
The information from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development showed that, our country's average rice export price in the first 9 months of 2023 reached 553 USD/tonne, up by 14% over the same period of 2022, sometimes reaching nearly 650 USD /tonne.
Businesses in the industry say that the rice export market in the last months of the year is still very bright. Accordingly, besides the Indonesian market, the Philippine market - the country that imports the most Vietnamese rice - has increased purchases again after nearly a month of suspension due to a price ceiling on domestic rice. Meanwhile, the Chinese market is expected to increase purchases of sticky rice to serve the needs of the year-end Tet holiday.
With an export price of about 580 - 600 USD/tonne, Mr. Nguyen Van Don - Director of Viet Hung Co., Ltd. (Tien Giang) - commented that rice exports in 2023 are expected to bring in about 5 billion USD. This number is much higher than previous years.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, due to the increase in Autumn-Winter rice area, this year our country can export about 7.8 million tonnes of rice. Thus, in the remaining 3 months of 2023, our country has about 1.38 million tonnes of rice of all kinds for export.
CK
Source: VITIC/congthuong.vn