Rice fever grips Vietnamese consumers

People rushed to buy rice Saturday after the price began rising in leaps and bounds. Officials, meanwhile, rushed to assure all there was no looming rice shortage.

The rice shelves at Co.opMart supermarket on Ho Chi Minh City’s Cong Quynh Street were empty last night.

Several housewives asked each other anxiously whether nearby supermarkets had any rice left.

In front of the supermarket, many people called home to report they had been unable to buy rice at this supermarket.

One hundred meters from Cong Quynh Co.opMart, the Hanoi super-market was also out of stock of rice.

An employee there said since the afternoon people had been flocking in to buy rice for some mysterious reason.

Rice gets costly

Shopper Nguyen Van Tho from Go Vap District said he didn’t buy rice Saturday because it was too expensive.

Tho said he was dazed by the surge in prices.

Saturday morning a kilogram of rice sold for VND10,000 (US$0.63) but only a few hours later the food staple was VND18,000 ($1.13) a kilogram.

Some rice distributors on District 3’s Le Van Sy Street said the price of rice had doubled within a few days.

Many distributors in the city have been turning away customers, waiting to sell when rice prices rise higher.

Their stockpiling may be contributing to the upward movement of rice prices.

The global price of rice has been rising because of shortages in some rice producing countries.

In places like Can Tho and Quy Nhon cities, rice is also reaching record prices.

Sellers at major rice outlets in Can Tho City said their suppliers have increased prices three or four times a day over the past few days.

High-quality and fragrant rice is seeing the highest hike, jumping an additional VND4,000 to VND7,000 ($0.25-0.44) per kilogram in a week.

A kilogram of fragrant Taiwanese-strain rice is now sold for a record VND18,000 ($1.13), up from VND11,000 ($0.67) last week.

Rice retailers say even low-quality rice is getting expensive, costing them around VND10,000 ($0.63) per kilogram.

The price of harvested rice plant prices are climbing.

As of Saturday, a kilogram of harvested rice plants in Can Tho’s Cai Rang District cost VND6,000 ($0.38), up from VND5,500 ($0.34) just a day earlier, and VND4,200 ($0.26) in January.

In Quy Nhon, prices of many rice varieties have increased by 60 percent in a few days with restaurant owners rushing to buy and distributors stockpiling rice to wait for higher price hikes.

Full assurance

Government officials have issued assurances the price increases are not caused by an inadequate supply.

Deputy Director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Plant Cultivation Department, Phan Huy Thong, said Vietnam had enough rice to feed its people, with total production in the spring crop expected to reach 17.2 million tons, an increase of 200,000 tons from last season.

The Mekong Delta has enjoyed a bumper spring crop, harvesting 9.4 million tons, a 300,000 ton increase compared to the same period last year.

Rice farmers in the southern central and central highland regions are also starting to harvest, with production in the central highlands expected to equal last year’s figure of 400,000 tons.

Due to bad weather, production in the southern central coast may slide down to 900,000 tons, an 80,000 ton decline compared to last spring.

In the north, despite cold weather, rice plants are thriving and production may reach last year’s level of 6.5 million tons.

Thong said not only did the country have enough rice for domestic consumption, there was likely to be some left to export.

According to the Vietnam Food Association, the country will cap its export at 3.5 million tons this year to ensure food security.

So far, local rice exporters have signed contracts to export 2.4 million tons.

But even in provinces that have been suffering from poor crops like Quang Nam, Quang Ngai and Phu Yen, local authorities are confident people will have enough rice to eat.

Deputy Director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Planning Department, Bui Tat Tiep, said rice shortages in other parts of the world and resulting high rice prices worldwide might be making locals worried.

But Tiep said Vietnam’s main rice concern was not a shortage but how much to export to ensure an adequate supply for local consumption.

Reported by Thanh Nien staff