Diversifying markets, opportunities to expand market share
According to the latest updated data from the Vietnam Food Association, the export price of 5% broken rice from Vietnam is currently at 388 USD/tonne, 10 USD/tonne higher than 5% rice exported from India but 10 USD/tonne lower than Thai rice. With 25% broken rice, Vietnam's export price is currently at 362 USD/tonne, 18 USD/tonne lower than Thai rice and 5 USD/tonne lower than Indian rice.
According to data from Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, despite a decrease of 18.7%, the average export price of rice in the first 5 months of 2025 in Vietnam still reached 516.4 USD/tonne.
Explaining the difference between the export rice price announced by Vietnam Food Association and the rice price announced by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, talking to reporters of the Industry and Trade Newspaper about this, Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, Director of Phuoc Thanh IV Production - Trading Company Limited (Vinh Long province) said that the export rice price announced by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is the price added from high-quality rice and regular rice, while the rice price announced by the Vietnam Food Association is regular rice. "For example, ST25 rice exported to the EU market can be up to 1,200 USD/tonne", Mr. Thanh cited.
According to the report of Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the volume and value of rice exports in the first 5 months of 2025 reached 4.5 million tons and 2.34 billion USD, up 12.2% in volume but down 8.9% in value compared to the same period in 2024. The Philippines is Vietnam's largest rice consuming market with a market share of 41.4%. Ivory Coast and China are the next two largest markets with market shares of 11.9% and 10.3%, respectively.
In the context of the complicated global rice trade situation, Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh said that along with traditional markets, niche markets are opening up more opportunities for Vietnamese rice. Specifically, with about 7 million people of Asian origin, Canada is one of the potential rice consuming markets. Currently, Vietnam's rice exports to this market account for less than 2% of the market share, so the market space is still very large for the Vietnamese rice industry.
Along with Canada, 90% of Singapore's food is currently imported from abroad. Particularly for rice, Vietnam is currently the third largest rice supplier to Singapore, after India and Thailand. Vietnam's rice export turnover to Singapore has grown steadily over the years. This shows that the supply potential and quality of Vietnamese rice meet the demand and strict standards of Singapore.
Vietnamese rice maintains competitive momentum with Thai rice
According to the regular report in May of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), global rice trade is estimated to reach a record high as rice exports from India to African countries continue to recover. India may increase its rice exports by 1 million tonnes in 2025 and reach 25 million tonnes.
USDA also forecasts that Vietnam's rice exports in 2025 will reach about 7.9 million tons, ranking second in the world after India. Meanwhile, Thailand's rice exports are forecast to fall to 7 million tons, a record low in recent years.
Thailand is currently the biggest competitor of Vietnamese rice in the world market. However, according to experts, Vietnamese rice is competitive with Thai rice.
The reason is that in the world's largest consumer market, the Philippines, Thai rice is gradually losing its competitiveness compared to Vietnamese rice due to high prices. Meanwhile, Indonesia - the market that accounts for the largest export output of Thailand - has sharply reduced rice imports in 2025. Tight inventories have pushed prices higher and the stronger baht has also made Thai rice exports more expensive for international buyers.
Speaking to reporters from Cong Thuong Newspaper, agricultural expert Hoang Trong Thuy commented that in recent times, the rice industry has shifted a lot in export activities, with the orientation of focusing on fragrant rice products, high-quality rice, gradually reducing low-quality rice, investing in cleaner production..., which has helped increase the value of rice grains.
"Currently, high-quality rice accounts for 60 - 70% of total rice exports; high-quality branded rice accounts for about 15%; the rest is regular rice. Thanks to that, Vietnam's high-quality rice segment is less directly competitive with other exporting countries," said Mr. Hoang Trong Thuy.

Source: Vitic/ congthuong.vn