Vietnam exported 2.1 million tons of rice in the first three months, worth $1.4 billion in total, up 42% year-on-year in value.

Main buyers such as the Philippines, Indonesia, China, Ghana, Malaysia and Singapore all posted growth, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Philippines and Indonesia, however, are making efforts to increase production to reduce their dependence on Vietnamese rice.

African countries, which have long been a buyer of Vietnamese rice, are now also being supported by other countries to grow their own rice.

The ministry therefore urged rice exporters to diversify their markets and increase their product quality to make Vietnamese rice more competitive.

Vietnam’s 5% broken rice export price is now at $576 per ton, down 12% from the beginning of the year and lower than competitors in Thailand and Pakistan.

Vietnam, which ranks third globally in rice exports, aims to ship $5 billion worth of rice this year, up from a record $4.7 billion last year.