Dong Thap’s unhusked rice prices down
By Ngoc Hung - The Saigon Times Daily
HCMC – Unhusked rice prices in Dong Thap Muoi and Tan Hong districts in Dong Thap Province have declined by 15% to VND5,000 per kilo over the past 10 days although the winter-spring crop has just begun.
Local farmers have rushed to sell rice as they fear the prices will plunge deeper during the main harvest after Tet. However, many traders only buy dried unhusked rice for storage, said Hoang Kim, a farmer in Tan Hong District.
Nguyen Van Hieu, deputy director of the province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said rice prices there were mostly decided by traders as food enterprises accounted for 20% of the market.
The Vietnam Food Association (VFA) last month fixed the price of unhusked rice at VND5,900 per kilo after singing contracts to export 2.38 million tons of 25% broken rice at US$480-664 per ton. However, traders bought rice at the regulated price on January 23 only and then reduced the price by VND100 per kilo day after day, according to Kim.
Meanwhile, traders said they have to maintain the prices as enterprises acquire unhusked rice at low prices for storage, Kim added.
In fact, an official of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said rice prices are decided by the Price Management Department under the Ministry of Finance. Although farmers can still earn profits with that price, VFA should announce buying prices for farmers given high export prices, Hieu said.