Rice exporters divided on minimum export price

Rice price: Businessman Vo Tan Nha and his wife having lunch at their rice shop in Ho Chi Minh City A minimum export price for rice will likely prevent bidding exporters from selling too low, ensuring safety for themselves and farmers. — AP

HANOI: There should be a minimum export price for Vietnamese rice to prevent companies from engaging in price wars, undercutting each other, say industry insiders after a recent incident in which Vietnamese exporters won a bid to supply Indonesia’s State Logistics Agency (Perum Bulog) with 100,000 tonnes of rice for a total of US$55mil.

Loc Troi had the lowest bidding prices among bidders at US$563 per tonne, US$16 lower than the initial price of US$579 per tonne and US$24 lower than the domestic rice price listed by the Vietnam Food Association.