HCMCity (VNA) - The recent suspension of rice importation by thePhilippines, a major market, has sparked concern among Vietnamese riceexporters. Lastweek, Philippine Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol said President Rodrigo Dutertehad ordered a temporary halt to imports since local farmers had achieved alarge rice harvest. Duterte had said that while there is a need to import rice for buffer stocks,the importation must not be done during the peak harvest season since thiswould affect local farmers, Pinol said. The Philippines had been the second largest buyer of Vietnamese rice in the firsttwo months of the year. Tran Thi Kim Nhung, director of the Dong Nai-based Kim Dong Thuan Co Ltd, whichsupplies rice to companies to export to the Philippines, told Nguoi Lao Dong (Labourers)newspaper her company is preparing for an export order of around 20,000 tonnes fromthe Philippines, and does not know what to do if that country stops importing. "Vietnamlacks high-quality rice but has an abundance of cheap, low-grade rice, the kindthat the Philippines usually imports. If the market stops imports, finding asubstitute market will be extremely difficult," she said. Lam Anh Tuan, director of Thinh Phat Food Co Ltd of Ben Tre province, said thePhilippines has changed its rice import management mechanism, switching fromGovernment import to the private sector bidding for import quotas andincreasing domestic supply.

Global rice prices are falling, but paradoxically prices have increased in theVietnamese market, making its rice less competitive. If businesses cannotexport, rice prices would definitely drop after the next crop, hurting farmers,he said.

🐈 Dang Thi Lien, director of Long An Foodstuff Co Ltd, said she is in closecontact with importers in the Philippines, and knows that the country has beenhit by natural disasters and suffers from a rice shortage.

Duterte’s order to suspend rice imports from Vietnam would undoubtedly have ahuge impact on Vietnam’s rice exports, she said. According to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA), rice exports to that countryhave fallen significantly in recent years. The Philippines bought nearly 1.13 million tonnes of rice from Vietnam in 2015,accounting for 17.2 per cent of Vietnam’s exports. Last year it fell to just400,000 tonnes, or 8.18 per cent of exports. VFA said businesses and official agencies should keep a close eye on thePhilippines market to map out a suitable strategy as there is somecontradictory information from the market. The Philippines’ National Food Authority had said last month the country needsto import 250,000 tonnes of rice as soon as possible. The VFA also forecast that the Philippines could resume imports in the periodbetween rice crops (May-July). Vietnam exported 1.28 million tonnes of rice for 566 million USD in the firstquarter of the year, a year-on-year decrease of 18.1 percent in volume and 17.3percent in value. China was the largest buyer.-VNA