Rice exports to Asian markets have been with strong growth in recent years, but even with demanding and high-standard markets like the EU, Vietnam continues to expand its market share and increase export volume of rice.

According to customs statistics, in 2022, Vietnam's rice export turnover reached 7.1 million tons with a value of USD 3.46 billion, an increase of 13.8% in volume and an increase of 5.1% in turnover compared to 2021. The average export price reached USD 486.2/ton, a decrease of 7.7% compared to the average level in 2021.

Asia continues to be the largest regional export market in 2022, reaching 4.96 million tons, accounting for nearly 71% of total exports, an increase of 15.5% compared to 2021.

Africa is the second largest export market, reaching nearly 1.25 million tons, accounting for 17.8% of total exports, a slight increase of 0.2% compared to 2021.

Although accounting for only a small proportion of about 2.45% of total exports, the European market area had a strong growth of 90.7% compared to 2021, reaching 172,200 tons.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, although the volume of exports to the EU is not large compared to other regional markets, the added value is high because 27 EU countries are markets for high quality fragrant rice products of Vietnam.

Businesses also make the most of the volume of rice exported under tariff quotas to enjoy the 0% tax that the EU gives Vietnam. Specifically, last year, rice exports to the EU market increased sharply, reaching 94,510 tons and exceeding the annual quota of 80,000 tons of rice that the EU gives Vietnam under the 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 Agreement's incentives.

With the majority of high-value-added rice varieties, the export price of Vietnam's rice to the EU market in 2022 reached an average price of USD 688/ton, 41.4% higher than the general export price of USD 486/ton of the whole country.

Vietnam's rice production industry is still adjusting in the direction of reducing output, increasing quality, with varieties of premium rice, fragrant rice, focusing on high requirements of the world market, such as green production, reducing emissions, reducing pesticides, increasing the use of organic fertilizers, etc.

This partly explains why the price of Vietnam's rice is always high in recent months. In particular, the prices of some well-known brands of rice such as ST24 and ST25 have been with strong increase to over USD 1,200/ton..

In which, exports to several EU markets increased sharply, such as the Netherlands with an increase of 44%, Poland with an increase of 68%, Spain with an increase of 89%, Belgium with an increase of 149%, etc.

With stable demand, especially for aromatic rice and high-quality rice, the EU will continue to be a potential market for Vietnam’s rice exporters.

Kylie Nguyen