Rising shipping costs hit rice exporters
28 | 09 | 2007
Although Vietnam has signed more contracts to sell rice abroad this year, exports only reached 1.8 million tonnes with an export turnover of US$516 million, decreasing 14% in output and 4% in price over last year, according to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA).
The main reason is the difficulty in chartering cargo ships and rising transport charges, about 30% to 35% of the export price. Transport charges for ships in Asia rose from US$16 to US$17 a tonne to US$25 to US$30 a tonne and the charges for African bound vessels rose from between US$80 to US$90 per tonne to between US$110 and US$120 per tonne, reported the general secretary of the VFA Nguyen Thi Nguyet.
The VFA is recommending that companies change to transporting by container when exporting.
Intelasia News Online