Canada a potential market for Vietnam’s rice

Vietnam holds the 5th place among the rice exporters to the North American country.

After the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) took effect, Vietnam’s rice export value to this market increased by more than 60% to nearly 9.5 million USD in the 2018-2022 period,  according to the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA).

In the first six months of this year, its value rose by more than 35% year-on-year, topping 6 million USD.

However, Vietnamese rice makes up just 3% in volume and 1.5% in value of the North American country’s import of this commodity and less than one-tenth of the market share of Thai rice. Therefore, ample room remains for Vietnamese rice since it has a competitive advantage in terms of price in comparison with other products of the same type.

In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency, Trade Counselor Tran Thu Quynh said the embassy in Canada has made great efforts to support Vietnamese businesses, particularly those of overseas Vietnamese, to access the retail system of the host country. 

As a result, Vietnam's rice products have posted a strong growth in both quantity and export price since the beginning of this year, she said, adding that the price of Vietnamese rice reaches 800-830 USD per tonne on average.

According to Quynh, the number of businesses importing Vietnamese rice in the Canadian market is still modest and operating in some large cities such as Vancouver, Montreal, or Toronto. Previously, they often imported Thai rice but have shifted to importing ST25 brand, contributing to the growth of Vietnamese rice to this market, she noted.

Dinh Trung Dung, director of the Vietnam CanadaTrading Ltd, said that Canada is a large rice consumption market, demanding about 500,000 tonnes per year. However, this market also has strict requirements in terms of quality. Therefore, he said that there should be close coordination from all parties, including the local Trade Office, exporters and importers, to ensure stable quality, especially for the ST25 brand, as the Thais did for their high-quality Hom Mali rice.

The Vietnam Trade Office in Canada is also actively coordinating with domestic agencies, rice associations and exporters and importers to increase Vietnam's rice market share in the Canadian market, Quynh said, elaborating that importers will get support relating to market research to set up business expansion strategies.

Source: Vietnamplus