Vietnam's commodity rice volume is estimated at 5.3 million tons in 2006, according to local newspaper Investment on Monday.

Vietnamese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat was quoted as saying that Vietnam is reaping paddy rice output of 36.2 million tons this year, of which some 27.2 million tons is for domestic consumption. Thus, the country has about 9 million tons of commodity paddy rice, equivalent to 4.9 million tons of rice, in 2006.

Besides the 4.9 million tons, Vietnam has another 400,000 tons of commodity rice stored by local rice exporters and households since 2005, he said.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has instructed local enterprises to monthly ship abroad 300,000 tons of rice in the last quarter of this year. The enterprises have so far this year delivered 4.1 million tons of rice to foreign buyers, the newspaper said.

Vietnam has decided to export 5 million tons of rice at most this year, a move to ensure its food security. The country sold overseas more than 5.2 million tons of rice worth of 1.4 billion U. S. dollars last year.

Source: Xinhua