Ha Noi (VNA) – The government plans to keep a close watch over the rice export this year in a bid to ensure food security as the northern region, one of the country’s rice bowls, is facing the risk of a bad harvest due to harsh cold weather.

“This year’s rice export will be made in moderation, favouring long-time partners, and the volume for export may be cut down as compared with 2007,” said Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien.

He said his ministry has been coordinating with a leading company, the Southern Food Corporation, in working out a plan to shift rice from the south to the north if necessary as the south is expected to have a bumper winter-spring crop.

The harvest in the south comes in March and April, promising a plentiful supply of rice for export, however, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), has forecasted that the export prices would stay high as the world demand continues to increase while the supply is short.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT), Viet Nam ’s export rice prices are on trend to increase, being 100 USD per tonne higher than the same period last year.

By the first week of February, the export price of rice with 5 percent of broken rice had reached 400 USD per tonne as compared with 355 USD per tonne in January.

According to the MARD, the rice prices in several Mekong delta provinces have been also rushing up since the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) festival in early February.

In 2007, Viet Nam exported 4.5 million tonnes of rice to earn 1.48 billion USD, a little bit lower in volume but 16 percent higher in turnover as compared to 2006 thanks to high export prices. Rice continues to be one of the country’s export staples.-Enditem