Cambodian traders buy up rice

Cambodian traders buy up rice

Unlike previous years, large volumes of Vietnamese rice produced from the summer-autumn crop have been sold at the Cambodian border in southern provinces.

Pham Thai Binh, director of the Can Tho-based rice exporter Trung An Co, said a number of traders from Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta provinces had bought Vietnamese rice and sold it to Cambodia traders at areas along the border of the two countries.

Binh said Thai companies also had purchased many kinds of Vietnamese rice, from low-quality IR 50404 to high-quality rice such as long-grain and fragrant rice, from Cambodian traders.

According to figures from Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) newspaper, at least 400,000 tonnes of Vietnamese rice have been sold to Thai buyers, including 100,000 tonnes of 5 per cent and 25 per cent broken rice and 300,000 tonnes of broken grains of rice.

Le Truong Son, general director of the Dong Thap-based Docimexco, said Thai companies' purchase of Vietnamese rice caused prices to rise in Viet Nam.

Truong Thanh Phong, chairman of the Viet Nam Food Association (VFA), said natural disasters in many countries would cause rice prices to increase for the rest of 2012.

Droughts and floods in India have led to a reduction in rice exports in that country, while China is expected to import more rice this year.

According to VFA, in the first seven months, Viet Nam signed contracts to export 6.3 million tonnes of rice this year.

Last week, Vietnamese high-grade 5 per cent broken rice sold for US$435 to $445 per tonne and low-quality 25 per cent broken rice for $405 to $415 per tonne.

Viet Nam is expected to reach its target of exporting 7 million tonnes of rice this year, but will have little opportunity to earn profits from high rice prices in the world market later this year, according to Phong

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