Vietnam rice exports increase to record level

Thai rice prices plummet

According to Thailand’s The Nation , rice prices have fallen to a 17-year low, down 25% from the same period last year. In that context, the Thai Finance Ministry convened an emergency meeting with relevant parties at the end of June to discuss direct support for farmers. This plan, initially budgeted at 2.86 billion baht, is now expected to nearly double to 5 billion baht (about 153 million USD).

Vietnam's rice exports hit record high despite world facing surplus crisis

Photo: Cong Han

Looking back from the beginning of 2025 until now, Thailand's rice exports have encountered difficulties because the most important market, Indonesia, has temporarily suspended imports. The second most important market, the US, has also faced challenges due to reciprocal tariffs. In other important markets, Thai rice faces fierce competition from India. In the world's largest rice importing market, the Philippines, Thai rice cannot compete with Vietnamese rice, as it only reached 125,000 tons in the first 6 months of the year. Recent reports show that Thailand's rice exports have decreased by more than 30% compared to the same period last year. In that context, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts that Thailand's rice exports in 2025 will only reach about 7 million tons, ranking third in the world after Vietnam.

Thailand's rice exports have fallen due to a glut in India. The USDA has forecast that India could export 24-25 million tonnes of rice this year, a record for the country. In fact, India's rice inventories are rising rapidly as the new harvest season begins. According to Reuters, India's rice output reached a record 146.1 million tonnes in the current crop year (ending in June) while domestic demand was only 120.7 million tonnes.

To deal with the rapidly rising inventory, the state-run Food Corporation of India (FCI) decided on June 26 to allocate 5.2 million tonnes of rice (equivalent to 9% of global rice exports) to produce ethanol. Last year, FCI used only 3,000 tonnes of rice to produce ethanol. Ethanol is used to blend with gasoline to create biofuel products. India aims to increase the ethanol blending ratio in gasoline to 20% by 2025-2026. Thanks to abundant rice resources, the country last month nearly achieved a blending ratio of 19.8% ethanol. Rice costs only about $262 per tonne to produce ethanol.

Source: VFA - Graphics: Minh Nguyet

Record high rice exports, good prices

In the context of the world rice market falling into a crisis of surplus, Vietnam is rising to become the second largest supplier in the world. A report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment said: In the first 6 months of 2025, Vietnam exported 4.9 million tons of rice, an increase of 8% in volume and value of 2.54 billion USD, down 12% compared to the same period in 2024. The average export price of rice decreased by 18% compared to the same period in 2024 but still reached over 517 USD/ton. Exports to the most important market, the Philippines, decreased by 17% but increased sharply in the markets of Ivory Coast (89%), Ghana (61%)...

In the rice granary of the Western region, farmers are entering the summer-autumn rice harvest. Mr. Nguyen Thanh An (in An Giang) said: At the beginning of the season, the rice quality was not good, so traders bought OM 5451 or DT8 rice at 5,900 - 6,000 VND/kg. Recently, thanks to improved quality, the price has increased to 6,100 - 6,200 VND/kg. "I grow Japanese rice, although it is still nearly a month before harvest, I have just received a deposit from traders at 7,600 VND/kg. According to the contract, when the product is harvested, if it meets the requirements for export to high-end markets, an additional 200 VND/kg will be added. The current price is equivalent to the last winter-spring crop, so I am very satisfied," said Mr. An.

From a business perspective, Mr. Nguyen Vinh Trong, Director of Viet Hung Company Limited (Dong Thap), explained that the price of IR50404 rice (5% broken white rice) decreased due to abundant supply in the world market while the price of Vietnamese rice is higher than other countries. However, this item has not been Vietnam's main product in recent years, so the impact is insignificant. Meanwhile, fragrant rice and high-quality rice such as OM5451, OM18 or DT8 still have good prices thanks to stable demand from the Philippines and African markets.

"Although the summer-autumn rice harvest has begun, domestic rice prices are still good thanks to stable demand from traditional markets. It is forecasted that in the last months of 2025, rice exports will continue to be favorable and prices will remain high," Mr. Trong informed.

A notable point is that while the world is in a surplus crisis, Vietnam's rice exports are increasing. Vietnam's goal in 2025 is to export 7.5 million tons, but after only 6 months, it has reached nearly 5 million tons. USDA forecasts that this year, Vietnam's rice exports could reach 7.9 million tons, surpassing Thailand by about 1 million tons and taking the second place in the world. What helps Vietnamese rice turn the tide, according to Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, Director of Phuoc Thanh IV Production and Trading Company Limited (Vinh Long), is that we have a set of good rice varieties with high yields such as OM4900, OM18, OM5451, DT8... This set of varieties produces Vietnamese rice products with good quality and highly competitive prices, suitable for a very wide range of markets from the Philippines, Africa, China and Middle Eastern countries.

The second is freshness thanks to the dynamism of farmers and businesses in producing and exporting rice products. Immediately after harvesting, rice is milled, processed, packaged and delivered to consumers in just about 2 weeks. In particular, the winter-spring rice crop has the best quality of the year, so 70-80% of the production is consumed immediately because the markets really like it. The freshness of Vietnamese rice is what Filipino and Chinese customers love. This advantage is difficult for other countries to compete with, even Thailand.

In the high-end segment, Vietnam also has ST24 and ST25 rice varieties that are very popular in the Chinese market. In addition, Vietnam continues to differentiate itself in the market with green rice products from the 1 million hectare low-emission high-quality rice project. This will continue to open up many opportunities for Vietnamese rice in high-end market segments.

Vietnamese rice enterprises are growing stronger and stronger. They invest in high-quality, large-capacity processing and storage systems. Thanks to that, when the harvest season comes, we are not under pressure from a good harvest and falling prices. In addition, enterprises are also boldly investing in developing the Vietnamese rice brand in the international market, so the reputation and value of Vietnamese rice are increasingly favored by the market.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh (Director of Phuoc Thanh IV Production and Trading Company Limited)

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/xuat-khau-gao-viet-tang-ky-luc-185250709195722006.htm