In August alone, the country shipped abroad 591,000 tonnes of rice for US$265 million, the agency said.
Strong growth were seen in Ivory Coast (64.5%), Australia (63.9%), Hong Kong (China) (43.5%), and Saudi Arabia (31.3%) during the January – August period.
The average export price in the eight months reached US$ 433 per tonne, down 14.7% year on year.
The Philippines outstripped China to become Vietnam’s largest buyer during the reviewed period, accounting for 34.5% of the total rice exports or 1.46 million tonnes. Its rice imports from Vietnam increased 3.2 times in volume and 2.7 times in value from the same period last year.
Vietnam’s rice exports to China plunged 66% year-on-year to 350,000 tonnes, pushing the neighbouring country to second position.