According to data on Oryza, on May 18, Vietnam’s price of 5% broken rice was offered at US$ 493 per ton. This price has been holding steady for the past several days.

Also on May 18, Thailand’s price of 5% broken rice was US$ 453 per ton, fell by U$ 3 per ton from the previous day.

Thus, Vietnam’s export price of  5% broken rice is currently US$ 40 per ton higher than Thailand’s rice of the same type and much higher than Pakistan’s (US$ 438 per ton) and India’s (US$ 388 per ton).

The price of Indian rice, which is already low compared to major exporting countries, is on a downward trend due to increased supply as the Government of this country releases stockpiles to help the poor overcome difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Previously, Mr. Le Thanh Tung – Deputy Director of the Department of Crop Production (the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) also said “Rice price in the last 10 years has never been high like this”.

The reason for the increase in rice prices is that the demand for rice stocks of importing countries increases due to the complicated developments of the Covid-19 epidemic. Meanwhile, rice production of some other rice exporting countries such as Thailand decreased due to the effects of climate change. Demand is high, while the world supply of rice is not much.