Vietnam recently received husked brown rice from India for the first time in years, with the goal of processing it into refined white rice for export in response to strong worldwide demand. This decision comes as Vietnam anticipates greater export orders following India’s restriction on white rice exports in 2023. Vietnamese rice shipments reached a record 8.3 million metric tons in 2023, depleting stocks.
Vietnam has imported husked brown rice from India for the first time in decades to process the grain and export the refined, white type, trade, and government sources said, as Hanoi attempts to cash in on high worldwide demand for the staple.
According to Reuters, Vietnam, the world’s third-largest rice exporter, purchased at least 200,000 metric tons of husked brown rice from India between December and February, according to reports.
Vietnam is seeing a surge in rice export orders after India, the world’s largest exporter, banned white rice exports in 2023.
Vietnam’s rice shipments reached a record 8.3 million metric tons in 2023.
Surging exports have resulted in a reduction in stockpiles in Vietnam, which remains eager to meet expanding worldwide demand, according to an exporter in Kolkata, eastern India.
Because rice paddy was not available in Vietnam for milling, some businessmen imported husked rice from India and profited handsomely by processing and exporting the grain, he explained.
The exporter said that other traders quickly followed suit.
While India’s husked brown rice was priced at $500 per metric ton on the east coast, Vietnamese traders sold the polished grain for more than $600, according to reports.
Vietnam only recently began purchasing husked brown rice from India, but it now accounts for almost 95% of India’s total husked brown rice exports, according to the report.
Hanoi now imports approximately 70,000 metric tons of husked brown rice from India each month, according to a government official who declined to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Although supplies for the new season have begun to arrive in Vietnam, Indian rice remains less expensive, according to the Kolkata-based exporter.
Before India banned rice exports, Vietnam bought 100% broken white rice for animal feed and beer.
The Philippines, Indonesia, Nigeria, Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Malaysia are top rice importers, relying on shipments from India, Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, and Myanmar.
According to the Economic Times, India presently only allows the export of parboiled and premium basmati rice varieties.
