Friday, 24 July 2015 17:47
HANOI: Vietnam, the world’s third-largest rice exporter, could ship 5.91 million tonnes of the grain this year, down 6.5 percent from 2014, with loading volumes expected to fall towards the year-end, the Vietnam Food Association said.
Shipments in the last quarter of 2015 are projected at 1.4 million tonnes, down from 1.8 million tonnes forecast for the July-September period, after 2.7 million tonnes were loaded in the first six months, the association said in a report secured by Reuters on Friday.
The association’s full-year forecast is below a government projection of 7 million tonnes and below the revised shipment forecast of 6.3 million tonnes released early this month by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
Last year Vietnam shipped 6.32 million tonnes of rice, the association’s data shows, placing the country behind India and Thailand.