Vietnam has secured a contract to export 300,000 tonnes of rice to Haiti in 2013 to help meet demand from the Caribbean island that has been hit by a string of natural disasters this year, a state-run newspaper reported on Monday. The first volume of 20,000 tonnes would be loaded in the first quarter ending March, Chairman Truong Thanh Phong of the Vietnam Food Association was quoted by the Vietnam Agriculture newspaper as saying.
The import is expected to help Haiti meet its domestic rice demand of 400,000 tonnes in 2013, the Agriculture Ministry-run newspaper said without giving any price details. Three natural disasters have hit the Caribbean island this year, including a drought in the summer and Hurricanes Isaac and Sandy. More than 40 percent of Haiti's harvest was destroyed and losses of about $254 million incurred, the United Nation has estimated.
The contract with Haiti would help boost sentiment of Vietnamese rice exporters who said earlier this month they had not seen any major export deal for early 2013 to support prices. Vietnam's rice exports this year could reach a new record high of 7.7 million tonnes, industry officials said, breaking the record of 7.2 million tonnes in 2011, when it ranked the world's second-largest exporter after Thailand.
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