The Vietnam Food Association (VFA) said, however, that export revenues of USD 2 billion marked a 6.2 percent decline in value against the same period last year.

 VFA expects rice firms to ship an additional 1.2 million tons of rice in the final quarter of this year, taking total exports this year to a record setting 6-6.2 million tons. As of September 30, export contracts totaling 5.8 million tons had been signed, according to VFA.

Vietnam’s main export markets are Indonesia, the Philippines, Cuba and Iraq. The country’s rice exports to Africa and the Middle East have risen significantly this year, the association said.

Rice exporters have delivered 1.4 million tons to Africa and 250,000 tons to the Middle East in the first nine months of the year, an increase of 98 percent and 65 percent against the same period last year, respectively, reported by a newspaper.