Rice exports face downward pressure
According to the report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development at the Conference on production, rice market and drought prevention in the Mekong Delta held in Can Tho City on March 7, in the first months of 2025, the global rice market will have complicated developments, supply will increase while import demand will decrease, affecting Vietnam's rice exports. Domestic rice purchasing prices have decreased compared to the same period in 2024 due to the Winter-Spring rice harvest in the provinces and cities of the Mekong Delta.
The rice growing area in 2025 is expected to reach 7 million hectares, down 132,000 hectares compared to 2024. However, thanks to increased productivity, rice output has not fluctuated much. The rice output in the Mekong Delta in 2025 is expected to reach 24.057 million tons, of which the 2024 - 2025 Winter-Spring crop is estimated to reach 10.772 million tons.
In the period of 2020 - 2024, the world rice market will face many challenges due to reduced supply and some countries limiting exports. In 2025, the total global rice supply tends to increase, causing downward pressure on prices.
In Vietnam, rice exports in 2024 reached a record of 9 million tons, worth 5.75 billion USD. However, in the first 2 months of 2025, rice exports decreased slightly in value due to the average decrease in export rice prices.
The situation of saline intrusion at Mekong Delta river mouths since the beginning of the dry season has been higher than the average of many years, but not as serious as in 2019 - 2020, 2015 - 2016 and 2023 - 2024. It is forecasted that saline intrusion will gradually decrease from April 2025, except for the two sides of the Vam Co river that may last until the end of April if there is no rain.
Improving market management and regulation capacity
Speaking at the conference, Party Central Committee member and Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha emphasized that despite facing many difficulties, Vietnam still maintains its position as one of the world's leading rice exporters, with more than 80% of output in the high-quality rice segment.
To improve the capacity to manage and regulate the rice market, the Deputy Prime Minister proposed building a comprehensive specialized database system. This system will integrate information from many stages, including production, science and technology, processing, preservation, markets and forecasting. The goal is to provide timely and accurate information to stakeholders, from farmers, businesses to state management agencies.
Regarding export management, the Deputy Prime Minister proposed amending Decree 107/2018/ND-CP, adding strict criteria for rice exporting enterprises, including production linkage capacity, warehouse system and financial capacity. This is considered an important solution to improve the quality and professionalism of rice export activities.
Regarding the construction and protection of the Vietnamese rice brand, the Deputy Prime Minister requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to coordinate with the Ministry of Science and Technology to develop a strategy to prevent the illegal use of Vietnamese rice brands abroad, in order to protect the reputation and position of Vietnamese rice in the international market.
The Deputy Prime Minister also suggested carefully reviewing agricultural land areas, focusing on developing areas with high productivity and good adaptation to climate change. At the same time, it is proposed to adjust the crop structure from 3 crops to 1 or 2 crops to improve production quality.
Regarding climate change response, the Deputy Prime Minister requested competent agencies to update long-term forecasts on droughts, develop proactive solutions, especially in seasonal management and selection of appropriate plant varieties.
