Farmers waiting for dealers to buy their rice sacks in the Mekong Delta.Sunday, September 13, 2009
Thanh Nien News (Hanoi)
Farmers in the Mekong Delta say a bumper harvest has brought no benefits as their rice is languishing in warehouses amid low demand and two weeks of nose-diving prices.
Le Thanh Hien, a farmer in Hau Giang Province, said he had failed to sell nearly all of the five tons of rice he harvested at the end of July.
“We have a bumper crop here and the quality is good, but no matter how we plead, dealers just refuse to buy the rice.”
Many farmers said dealers offered to buy their rice at only VND2,500-2,800 per kilogram, or VND300-500 lower than their input costs, and much lower than the minimum price of VND3,800 set by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The 13 southern provinces of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam’s largest rice growing area, are expected to produce a total output of 7.75 million tons of unmilled rice in the summer-autumn crop, which ends in September.
Farmer Huynh Van Lieu said he has been storing more than three tons of rice at his house for about a month.
“If the situation doesn’t get any better at the end of this week, I will have to sell the rice at any price I can,” Lieu said. “The rice can’t be stored here longer or it will go bad.”
More than 97 percent of the summer-autumn crop in Hau Giang, equivalent to 61,000 hectares, has been harvested already. However, farmers in the province have sold less than 50 percent of their rice.
‘We were so happy...’
The situation is getting worse as the flooding season has already begun and Hau Giang is the lowest province in the delta. Farmers also don’t have the facilities needed to properly store their huge stockpiles, which will rot if not sold soon.
Elsewhere in the delta, even farmers who have learned from past experiences are not doing well with the bumper crop.
Looking at his rice stockpile of more than three tons, Tran Van On said after suffering losses last year growing IR50404, the cheapest rice variety, he switched to a higher quality rice strain as advised by experts.
“But this year no one wants to buy my rice either. I may end up quitting farming altogether.”
On’s family is one of thousands of households in Dong Thap Province that have switched to the high-quality Jasmine variety, thinking the rice would be easier to sell.
Farmer Huynh Van Duong was disappointed after waiting for a whole month for someone to come and buy more than 30 hectares of quality rice that he harvested.
The Vietnam Food Association in early August asked its members to buy 400,000 tons of rice from farmers in order to increase its stockpiles and prevent price drops.
“We were so happy when we heard the news,” Duong said. “But then we kept on waiting, and the dealers willing to buy at good prices never showed up.”
Price cuts
The director of a rice export company, who did not want to be named, told Thanh Nien that even if businesses purchased rice from farmers as requested by the food association, prices would not improve much.
“When there is a bumper crop, rice prices drop immediately,” the director said, noting rice of the summer-autumn crop was usually unfavorable by foreign importers because of its lower quality compared to other harvests.
Nguyen Van Minh, deputy general director of the Hau Giang Food Joint Stock Company, said that although his company agreed to pay VND3,800-3,900 per kilogram, such prices were for high-quality rice only and farmers had to transport the rice to the company factory on their own. As many farmers didn’t have high-quality varieties, and others couldn’t transport the grain properly, Minh said he couldn’t buy large volumes of rice at good prices.
Nguyen Dang Chi, deputy director general of the Import-Export Department at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said falling global demand this year – two million tons less than last year – has pushed rice prices down.
Many other countries have reported bumper crops and others are using their old stockpiles, so demand is not high, Chi said in an interview with Tuoi Tre newspaper on Monday.
On the same side
Chi also said local exporters were undercutting each other, driving prices even lower.
“When some exporters set their profit margin at US$3 per ton, others set theirs at only $2 or even just a mere $1 per ton. Foreign importers have taken advantage of the lack of teamwork to force prices down.”
Chi said his ministry was drafting a decree to tighten control over rice trading.
The Vietnam Food Association said it plans to purchase another 500,000 tons this month to stabilize prices for farmers as soon as possible.
But foreign experts said low prices have helped Vietnamese rice do well on the global market.
Vietnam shipped 4.7 million tons of rice in the first eight months of the year, 43 percent more than a year earlier, according to preliminary estimates from the General Statistics Office in Hanoi. Exports totaled 4.65 million tons last year and reached a record 5.17 million tons in 2005.
Vietnam may boost shipments this year by as much as 49 percent to seven million tons thanks to an improved harvest, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Huu Hao said in August.
Sourcing Vietnam
“Vietnam’s price quotes are well below Thailand’s, making Vietnam a very competitive supplier,” Nathan Childs and Katherine Baldwin of the US Agriculture Department wrote in an August 13 report, according to Bloomberg.
Vietnam has also taken some market share from Thailand, whose shipments of white rice are trailing behind last year’s pace by about a third, the agricultural attaché’s office at the US embassy in Bangkok said in a report August.
Current export demand for Thailand’s white rice remains quiet as “foreign buyers are sourcing Vietnamese rice, which is over $100 per metric ton cheaper,” Bloomberg reported, citing an August 25 note by Ponnarong Prasertsri, an agricultural specialist at the US embassy in Bangkok.
“Number one is that you have to have the availability, and Vietnam is producing more,” said Mamadou Ciss, chief executive of Singapore-based rice brokers Hermes Investments Pte Ltd.
The rice area planted for the autumn-winter crop has been increased in size over the last season, Quan Tran of the agricultural attaché’s office at the US embassy in Vietnam wrote in a report released on September 4.
The autumn-winter crop would be Vietnam’s most important rice crop this year, the Vietnam Food Association said in a July report, citing the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Overall, Vietnam’s paddy output would total 36 million tons this year compared with a previous estimate of 35.9 million, according to the American embassy in Vietnam.
Reported by Le An (With input from Bloomberg)
Le Thanh Hien, a farmer in Hau Giang Province, said he had failed to sell nearly all of the five tons of rice he harvested at the end of July.
“We have a bumper crop here and the quality is good, but no matter how we plead, dealers just refuse to buy the rice.”
Many farmers said dealers offered to buy their rice at only VND2,500-2,800 per kilogram, or VND300-500 lower than their input costs, and much lower than the minimum price of VND3,800 set by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The 13 southern provinces of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam’s largest rice growing area, are expected to produce a total output of 7.75 million tons of unmilled rice in the summer-autumn crop, which ends in September.
Farmer Huynh Van Lieu said he has been storing more than three tons of rice at his house for about a month.
“If the situation doesn’t get any better at the end of this week, I will have to sell the rice at any price I can,” Lieu said. “The rice can’t be stored here longer or it will go bad.”
More than 97 percent of the summer-autumn crop in Hau Giang, equivalent to 61,000 hectares, has been harvested already. However, farmers in the province have sold less than 50 percent of their rice.
‘We were so happy...’
The situation is getting worse as the flooding season has already begun and Hau Giang is the lowest province in the delta. Farmers also don’t have the facilities needed to properly store their huge stockpiles, which will rot if not sold soon.
Elsewhere in the delta, even farmers who have learned from past experiences are not doing well with the bumper crop.
Looking at his rice stockpile of more than three tons, Tran Van On said after suffering losses last year growing IR50404, the cheapest rice variety, he switched to a higher quality rice strain as advised by experts.
“But this year no one wants to buy my rice either. I may end up quitting farming altogether.”
On’s family is one of thousands of households in Dong Thap Province that have switched to the high-quality Jasmine variety, thinking the rice would be easier to sell.
Farmer Huynh Van Duong was disappointed after waiting for a whole month for someone to come and buy more than 30 hectares of quality rice that he harvested.
The Vietnam Food Association in early August asked its members to buy 400,000 tons of rice from farmers in order to increase its stockpiles and prevent price drops.
“We were so happy when we heard the news,” Duong said. “But then we kept on waiting, and the dealers willing to buy at good prices never showed up.”
Price cuts
The director of a rice export company, who did not want to be named, told Thanh Nien that even if businesses purchased rice from farmers as requested by the food association, prices would not improve much.
“When there is a bumper crop, rice prices drop immediately,” the director said, noting rice of the summer-autumn crop was usually unfavorable by foreign importers because of its lower quality compared to other harvests.
Nguyen Van Minh, deputy general director of the Hau Giang Food Joint Stock Company, said that although his company agreed to pay VND3,800-3,900 per kilogram, such prices were for high-quality rice only and farmers had to transport the rice to the company factory on their own. As many farmers didn’t have high-quality varieties, and others couldn’t transport the grain properly, Minh said he couldn’t buy large volumes of rice at good prices.
Nguyen Dang Chi, deputy director general of the Import-Export Department at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, said falling global demand this year – two million tons less than last year – has pushed rice prices down.
Many other countries have reported bumper crops and others are using their old stockpiles, so demand is not high, Chi said in an interview with Tuoi Tre newspaper on Monday.
On the same side
Chi also said local exporters were undercutting each other, driving prices even lower.
“When some exporters set their profit margin at US$3 per ton, others set theirs at only $2 or even just a mere $1 per ton. Foreign importers have taken advantage of the lack of teamwork to force prices down.”
Chi said his ministry was drafting a decree to tighten control over rice trading.
The Vietnam Food Association said it plans to purchase another 500,000 tons this month to stabilize prices for farmers as soon as possible.
But foreign experts said low prices have helped Vietnamese rice do well on the global market.
Vietnam shipped 4.7 million tons of rice in the first eight months of the year, 43 percent more than a year earlier, according to preliminary estimates from the General Statistics Office in Hanoi. Exports totaled 4.65 million tons last year and reached a record 5.17 million tons in 2005.
Vietnam may boost shipments this year by as much as 49 percent to seven million tons thanks to an improved harvest, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Huu Hao said in August.
Sourcing Vietnam
“Vietnam’s price quotes are well below Thailand’s, making Vietnam a very competitive supplier,” Nathan Childs and Katherine Baldwin of the US Agriculture Department wrote in an August 13 report, according to Bloomberg.
Vietnam has also taken some market share from Thailand, whose shipments of white rice are trailing behind last year’s pace by about a third, the agricultural attaché’s office at the US embassy in Bangkok said in a report August.
Current export demand for Thailand’s white rice remains quiet as “foreign buyers are sourcing Vietnamese rice, which is over $100 per metric ton cheaper,” Bloomberg reported, citing an August 25 note by Ponnarong Prasertsri, an agricultural specialist at the US embassy in Bangkok.
“Number one is that you have to have the availability, and Vietnam is producing more,” said Mamadou Ciss, chief executive of Singapore-based rice brokers Hermes Investments Pte Ltd.
The rice area planted for the autumn-winter crop has been increased in size over the last season, Quan Tran of the agricultural attaché’s office at the US embassy in Vietnam wrote in a report released on September 4.
The autumn-winter crop would be Vietnam’s most important rice crop this year, the Vietnam Food Association said in a July report, citing the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Overall, Vietnam’s paddy output would total 36 million tons this year compared with a previous estimate of 35.9 million, according to the American embassy in Vietnam.
Reported by Le An (With input from Bloomberg)
10 comments:
stolen lands, stolen rice.
Why are you always suck your dick?
Do you know who they are motherfucker.
I am so happy to fuck all of these guys!
Growing cheap rice on fields that use to be tended by Khmers who grew high quality rice is bad karma. Vietnamese bad karma for a race so obsessed with wealth.
no need for foul mouth in here.
That the best vocabulary you got 10:10?
come on, we are grown adult. street kids on the street corner speak better than you.
What comes around goes around. For hundred of years the arrogant Vietnamese hurt Khmers, now their bad Karma comes. How long can Ho Chi Minh sleep in his Mausoleum when Chinese keep coming?
Click this link and read the article about "Chinese Shadow over the Vietnamese Repression".
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/KI12Ad04.html
អាសៀមវាមិនដែលមនុស្សធម៍មកលើប្រជាជន
ខ្មែរទេ។មានសារព័ត៍មានមួយនៅក្នុងស្រុកបាន
និយាយថាពួកអាទាហ៊ានសៀមបានបាញ់ប្រជាជន
ខ្មែរឲ្យរបួសហើយដេញចាប់បានបន្ទាប់មកអាសៀមវាយកសាំងមកស្រោចលើពលរដ្ធខ្មែរម្នាក់
ដែលត្រូវរបួសដោយសារអាពួកវាបានបាញ់ឲ្យ
របួសហើយក៏ចាក់សាំងទៅលើបុរសនោះហើយ
បានដុតទាំងរស់តែម្តង។អាពួកនេះវាមិនដែលចាត់ទុក្ខជាភូមិផងរបងជាមួយអាពួកវាទេ។នៅឆ្នាំ១៩៧៩តាមព្រំព្រទល់អាសៀមវាបានសម្លាប់
ពលរដ្ធខ្មែររាប់មិនអស់ទេ។
5:04 PM
អាពួកប្រឆាំងនៅប្រទេសកម្ពុជាតាំងពីធ្វើសកម្មភាពប្រឆាំងដល់រាជរដ្ធាភិបាលមកគឺមិនដែលប្រឆាំង
បានល្អសោះ។ប្រឆាំងរបស់អាពួកនេះបានធ្វើឲ្យ
ប្រទេសហិនហោចក៏មានដែរហើយអាពួកនេះវា
រត់ចេញពីប្រទេសកម្ពុជាទៅឯក្រៅប្រទេសភ្លាម
បើប្រទេសចលាចល់នៅរឿងអ្វីមួយ។ដួច្នេះអា
ពួកនេះមិនខុសអំពីពួកអាក្បត់ប្រទេសជាតិទេ។
Hun Xen accounts?
Hey ah ៥:២៣ ភីអិម,
អាកញ្ចាស់ខួរក្បាលគំរឹលចែត្រឯង បានត្រឹម
តែធ្វើខ្ញុំកញ្ជះបំរើបាតជើងយួនប៉ុណ្ណោះឯង។
ទោះបីអាឯងសរសេរតិះដៀលខ្មែរអ្នកស្នេហា
ជាតិរហូតដល់អាឯងងាប់ដោយរន្ទះបាញ់ទៅ
វិញក៏គ្មានខ្មែរអ្នកជាណាឈឺក្បាលនឹងអាងាប់
ឯងដែរ។ យល់ទេអាងាប់?
Hey you idiot old fart backward pin head @5:23 PM,
You Viet/Yuon's slave can't even be good at anything other than being the Viet/Yuon's slave. True Khmer patriotic like us doesn't give a shit about what you said...keep on trying old fart until the lightning strikes you in broad daylight at high noon, okay?
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