2.1. Rice Export In Vietnam Market

a) Production According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The overall sown area of the country in 2022 will reach 7.2 million hectares, the average expected yield is 60.3 quintals/ha, the output is expected to be 43.5 million tons of paddy. Particularly for the Mekong Delta, it is estimated that rice production for the whole year reaches 3.88 million hectares, with an average yield of 62.6 quintals/ha; output reached 24.2 million tons of rice (rice export volume is mainly concentrated in the Mekong Delta provinces, other regions mainly for domestic consumption). 

 b) Export According to statistics of the Customs authority.

In 2022, Vietnam's rice export turnover reached 7.1 million tons with a value of 3.46 billion USD, up 13.8% in volume and 5.1% in turnover compared to 2021. The average export price reached 486.2 USD / ton, down 7.7% compared to the average in 2021.

- Regarding export markets: Asia continues to be the largest export region market in 2022, reaching 4.96 million tons, accounting for nearly 71% of total exports, up 15.5% compared to 2021. Africa is the second largest export regional market, reaching nearly 1.25 million tonnes, accounting for 17.8% of total exports, a slight increase of 0.2% compared to 2021. In particular, although accounting for only a small proportion of about 2.45% of total exports, the European market area has had a strong growth of up to 90.7% compared to 2021, reaching 172.2 thousand tons (in terms of not large volume compared to other regional markets, but the added value is high because this is a market for high quality fragrant rice products of Vietnam).

 In 2022, despite being affected by the developments of the world rice trade market, Vietnam's rice exports to some traditional markets with a high proportion still achieved growth compared to 2021, specifically: 

The Philippines market continues to be the largest rice import market of Vietnam,  accounting for nearly 45.2% of total exports and 43.2% of the country's total rice exports in 2022 (equivalent to an export volume of nearly 3.18 million tons with a value of more than 1.49 billion USD), up 28.8% in volume and 19% in turnover compared to 2021.  

The Chinese market ranked second, accounting for over 11.8% of the total volume and 12.5% of Vietnam's total rice export turnover (equivalent to 834.2 thousand tons with a value of 432.3 million USD), down 21.3% in volume and 17.3% in turnover compared to 2021.

The Ivory Coast market ranked 3rd, accounting for 9.4% of the total volume and accounting for 8.5% of the country's total rice export turnover (equivalent to 657.1 thousand tons with a value of 294.6 million USD), up nearly 9.4% in volume and nearly 35% in turnover compared to 2021.

- Regarding export categories: 

White rice usually still accounts for a large proportion of about 48.8% of total exports (equivalent to about 3.43 million tons), up 34% compared to 2021 (in terms of structure compared to 2021, white rice has an increase in proportion due to increased demand from the Philippines market for this segment); followed by fragrant rice accounting for about 31.9% of total exports (about 2.24 million tons), up 6.25% compared to 2021; followed by broken rice ranked 3rd with an export volume of 600 thousand tons, accounting for 8.5% of total exports, down 15.9% compared to 2021; Glutinous rice exported about 399 thousand tons, accounting for about 5.7% of total exports, down 38% compared to 2021. Micronutrient-fortified rice has a very modest export volume, accounting for about 0.2% (equivalent to 15.1 thousand tons) because a part of traders have not focused on the market segment with demand for this type.

c) Assessment

 In 2022, global rice trade is expected to recover from the Covid-19 epidemic but still faces many challenges due to difficult factors from markets: rising inflation in major consuming regions such as the US and EU; geo-political fluctuations between countries. However, with timely support policies with close attention and direction from the Government and ministries and branches and solutions to open markets, circulate goods and export rice, some encouraging results have been obtained:

- Rice exports in 2022 recorded growth in all markets. Traditional and key consumption markets continue to hold firm such as the Philippines, China, Africa, Cuba (for the first time, Vietnam exported rice at a record to the Philippines market at 3.2 million tons). 

- Rice exports to the EU market increased sharply, reaching 94,510 tons of rice and exceeding the annual quota of 80,000 tons of rice that the EU gives Vietnam under commitments from the EVFTA Agreement. This shows that the quality of Vietnam's rice is increasing and meets strict requirements from fastidious markets, and shows that traders make good use of the incentives of the Agreement.