Vietnam surpasses Thailand to become the world's second largest rice exporter

This figure is compiled by the Thai Rice Exporters Association. Bangkok is also concerned that it will lose its rice export market share to Vietnam if Thai rice export prices continue to remain high.

Farmers harvest rice in a field in Chainat province, Thailand - Photo: REUTERS

According to Thai PBS on August 3, the Thai Rice Exporters Association said that Vietnam has surpassed Thailand to become the world's second largest rice exporter in the first 6 months of 2025.

Thai rice is surpassed because of high prices

Statistics from this association show that from January to June 2025, India exported 11.68 million tons of rice, up 36.5% over the same period last year. Vietnam followed with 4.72 million tons, up 3.5%. Thailand ranked third with an export volume of 3.73 million tons, down 27.3%.

At the same time, Pakistan's rice exports reached 2.76 million tons, down 20.2%, and the US exported 1.4 million tons of rice, down 23.5%.

Iraq and the United States were the two leading importers of Thai rice, with import volumes of 582,703 tons and 430,603 tons, respectively, equivalent to 15.6% and 7.4% of total Thai rice exports.

African countries imported 359,031 tons of Thai rice. Meanwhile, China also imported 332,183 tons of rice from this country.

Thai Rice Exporters Association President Charoen Laothamatas said the value of Thai rice exports in the first 6 months of this year is estimated at 75.57 billion baht (more than 2.3 billion USD), down 36.4% compared to the same period last year.

The association predicts that Thailand will export more than 600,000 tons of rice in July 2025, as some countries such as Iraq, China, Japan and some African countries increase rice orders, but this may be due to falling rice prices.

Thai PBS reported that rice prices are expected to continue to fall due to increased supply in rice-producing countries and reduced demand, forcing rice exporters to cut prices to compete.

According to the Nation (Thailand), Thai rice exporters are not overly worried about the 19% US tariff that took effect in early August, but are more concerned about global market dynamics, including the oversupply of white rice and the possibility of Japan shifting its import priority to the US.

Rice is an important agricultural export from Thailand to the US, where Thailand currently holds the largest market share, especially Jasmine rice.

Responding to the Nation , Mr. Charoen said that the new tax rate only slows down the expected loss of market share of Thai Jasmine rice to Vietnamese rice varieties such as ST21, which have similar prices.

"However, if Vietnam increases its output tenfold in the future, making rice prices even cheaper, Thailand will lose more market share," Mr. Charoen commented.

"Don't be too happy when rice prices are high, it's better to keep prices moderate and sell in large volumes," he added.

Vietnamese rice exports increase but export value decreases

The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment said that rice exports in July 2025 are estimated at 750 thousand tons, equivalent to 366.1 million USD. In the first 7 months of the year, Vietnam exported about 5.5 million tons of rice, earning 2.81 billion USD, up 3.1% in volume but down 15.9% in value compared to the same period last year.

The main reason for the decline in value is that the average export price of rice in the first 7 months of the year only reached about 514 USD/ton, a sharp decrease of 18.4% compared to the same period in 2024.

The Philippines continues to be Vietnam’s largest rice consumer, accounting for 42.6% of total export turnover. However, the export value to this market in the first 6 months of the year decreased by 13.5% compared to the same period last year.

In contrast, some African markets recorded impressive growth. Exports to Ghana increased by 53.5%, while those to Ivory Coast nearly doubled to 96.6%. Among the 15 largest export markets, rice export value increased the most in the Bangladesh market with an increase of 188.2 times and decreased the most in the Malaysia market with a decrease of 58.5%.

Despite maintaining its position as the world's second largest rice exporter, Vietnam is under significant pressure from the downward trend in global prices, directly affecting the turnover and profits of the rice industry.

Vietnamese rice export prices are still better than last year.

Talking to Tuoi Tre about the news that Vietnam has surpassed Thailand to become the world's second largest rice exporter, Mr. Do Ha Nam - Chairman of the Vietnam Food Association (VFA) - commented that the difference between the second and third largest rice exporters in the world between Vietnam and Thailand is not much. But this shows that Vietnamese rice has made a difference in the first 7 months of the year and still maintained growth compared to the same period last year.

"Meanwhile, the world rice market is falling in price, and many businesses and rice exporting countries are losing their markets, while Vietnamese rice is still popular in countries like the Philippines, Africa and China," said Mr. Nam.

According to Mr. Nam, Vietnam's rice export price in the past 6 months averaged 517 USD/ton, which is higher than the average of 400 USD or slightly more of other rice exporting countries.

Thailand's loss of its position as the world's second-largest rice exporter may be due to difficulties in the Hom Mali rice export market, amid US tariffs.

Back to topic

NGHI VU - WISDOM

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/viet-nam-vuot-thai-lan-tro-thanh-nuoc-xuat-khau-gao-lon-thu-second-the-gioi-20250804155104559.htm