As of May 18th, the country's rice export reached more than 2 million tonnes, valued at over 875 million USD, up 15% in both volume and value compared to the same period last year. The increase was due to high rice exports during Q1 and overlapping contracts from 2015 transferred to 2016.
However, for Q2, in April, rice export only reached 453,000 tonnes, 550,000 tonnes lower than the expected target. The Vietnam Food Association forecasts the demand for Vietnamese rice from the Philippines, Indonesia and China will increase in the next six months. If supply is limited and prices are not competitive, Vietnam will risk losing market share to India and Pakistan.