Companies from the Mekong Delta provinces including Kieng Giang and Long An are now stepping up purchase of summer-autumn rice for stockpiling under the Government program requiring one million tons in stock from June 15-July 31.
Huynh Van Ganh, director of the Department of Industry and Trade in Kien Giang Province, said businesses have already bought 33,000 tons out of the targeted 85,000 tons in the province.
They are now rushing to complete purchase of the remaining volume by end of this month, he said.
Local farmers have harvested 50,000 hectares of summer-autumn rice, accounting for 50 percent of total cultivable area in the province.
Rice price has hiked just a little and farmers have found consumption easier because businesses are speeding up stockpiling.
A kilogram of fresh normal rice fetches VND3,700-3,900 and a kilogram of fresh long grain rice is VND4,100-4,300 now.
Thirteen companies are also rushing to buy 91,000 tons of rice in Long An Province, where local farmers have harvested more than 70,000 tons of summer-autumn crop.
According to Vietnam Food Association, businesses have exported 3.48 million tons of rice, raking in about $1.5 billion since the beginning of the year.
