HANOI, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam exported over 2.1 million tons of rice, up 42 percent year-on-year in value, in the first quarter of this year, VnExpress reported Wednesday, citing the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The country earned 1.4 billion U.S. dollars from exporting rice during the cited period, said the report.
The Philippines was the biggest importer of Vietnamese rice, accounting for 38 percent of market share.
Other main buyers were Indonesia, China, Ghana, Malaysia and Singapore.
The ministry urged domestic rice exporters to diversify their markets and increase their product quality to make Vietnamese rice more competitive.
Vietnam's 5 percent broken rice export price is now at 576 dollars per ton, down 12 percent from the beginning of the year and lower than competitors in Thailand and Pakistan.
According to traders, the ongoing biggest winter-spring harvest of the year will end in more than a week. It is expected that when the harvest is about to end, prices will soon increase again.
Vietnam targets rice export value of 5 billion dollars in 2024.
Last year, the country exported 8.13 million tons of rice with a record high value of 4.7 billion dollars. ■