Ministry of Industry and Trade meets to discuss rice exports, respond to Philippines' rice import suspension order

On the afternoon of September 10, the Ministry of Industry and Trade held a conference to promote rice exports in the last four months of 2025 and the coming years. The conference was chaired by Minister Nguyen Hong Dien.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade requires rice exporting enterprises to proactively seek new markets and actively purchase rice for temporary storage - Photo: BUU DAU

According to Mr. Dien, recently the Philippine market, which accounts for about 38-40% of our country's total rice exports, suddenly stopped importing for two months. This means that about 500,000 tons of rice were "stuck", causing great difficulties.

Difficulties surround the rice export market

In addition, Indonesia has also reduced its imports. As a result, our rice exports have both decreased in volume and been under pressure to reduce prices. In this situation, the Government has issued timely instructions with a telegram on strengthening the synchronous implementation of solutions to promote production, export and regulate the rice market.

"This is also an opportunity for us to learn an important lesson: we must diversify the market, avoid depending on a few partners, and avoid "putting all our eggs in one basket". Only when the market is expanded and balanced can we minimize risks and respond effectively to fluctuations," the Minister noted.

Reporting the situation, Mr. Nguyen Anh Son - Director of the Import-Export Department - informed preliminary statistics of the customs agency, in the first 8 months of 2025, rice exports reached nearly 6.37 million tons of rice with a value of more than 3.26 billion USD, an increase of 3.7% in volume but a decrease of 15.4% in turnover compared to the same period in 2024 - the year of rice export with the highest achievement ever.

Regarding export markets, the Philippines continues to be the largest importer of Vietnam with nearly 2.9 million tons, accounting for 45.9%, up 4.2% over the same period. This is followed by the Ivory Coast market with 753,700 tons, accounting for 11.85%, up 1.5 times over the same period last year. The Ghana market increased by nearly 94.8% over the same period, with an export volume of 662,400 tons, accounting for 10.4%.

Next is the Chinese market, after several years of continuous decline, in the first 8 months of the year it grew again, reaching 565,300 tons, accounting for 8.9% of total export volume, up 141.3% over the same period.

Notably, there was a significant decline from the Indonesian market, down nearly 97.2%, reaching only nearly 25,400 tons in 8 months after the Government of this country announced to stop importing rice in 2025.

The Malaysian market also decreased by 45% compared to the same period last year. The amount of rice exported to the Philippines, Ivory Coast, Ghana, China, Bangladesh... all increased compared to the same period last year, compensating for the decrease in the markets of Indonesia, Cuba, Malaysia...

Revoked 13 merchant licenses

Ministry of Industry and Trade meets on promoting rice export - Photo: NL

Regarding rice export management, in the first months of the year, the Ministry issued 13 decisions to revoke certificates of eligibility for rice export business due to non-compliance; promoted trade promotion, expanded markets, and improved legal framework, including signing diplomatic notes and letters with drafts on rice trade between Vietnam and other countries; and memorandums of understanding on rice trade with several countries.

The Ministry is also consulting on submitting to the Government a decree amending and supplementing Decree 107 on rice export.

By the end of the year, the expected export volume of rice is estimated at 15.085 million tons, equivalent to 7.542 million tons of rice. Regarding exports, the demand for rice imports from markets such as China, Bangladesh, African countries, etc. is forecast to be maintained.

India's resumption of 100% broken rice exports will continue to put pressure on global rice prices, but will not have much impact on Vietnam as broken rice accounts for only a small proportion of exports and has different market segments.

Rice export activities will also face many difficulties due to weather phenomena, economic - political risks - food import and export policies in the rice trade market; India's removal of a series of rice export restrictions from September 2024 has impacted the world rice price to continuously decrease.

Meanwhile, exports to the Philippine market are facing difficulties due to the temporary suspension of imports, affecting market sentiment in the last four months of 2025. Therefore, the ministry said it has focused on perfecting the legal framework, both creating a fair competitive environment for traders and strictly controlling them.

Continue to improve the effectiveness of forecasting and balancing supply and demand through strengthening activities: closely assessing the production situation of crops, varieties, and planning for rice and commodity exports. Traders strictly implement their responsibilities in reporting periodically, suddenly, and purchasing and storing; continue to carry out inspections.

At the same time, continue to strengthen the work of searching, expanding and developing markets through negotiating and signing rice trade contracts with markets with import demand, organizing and implementing trade promotion activities, promoting the brand of Vietnamese rice products according to the Strategy for developing Vietnam's rice export market to 2030.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bo-cong-thuong-hop-ban-xuat-khau-gao-ung-pho-truoc-lenh-ngung-nhap-gao-cua-philippines-20250910181924037.htm