A farmer walks on a rice field in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Phung Tien
Vietnam exported an estimated 1.3 million tonnes of rice in the first two months of 2026, up 5% from a year ago.
The shipments were worth $599.3 million, an 11.2% year-on-year drop, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.
The average export price during the period was estimated at $464.1 per tonne, down 15.4% year-on-year.
The Philippines remained the top market, accounting for 47.6% of rice exports. China and Ghana followed with shares of 18.3% and 8.9%, respectively.
Exports to the Philippines rose 17.6% in the first two months while shipments to China surged 5.8-fold. In contrast, exports to Ghana declined 31%.
Among the 15 largest export markets, rice exports recorded the strongest growth in China, increasing 5.8 times, while exports to Côte d’Ivoire saw the sharpest drop, down 90.9%.
According to exporters, Vietnam’s 5% broken rice is currently priced at up to $365 per tonne, unchanged from the previous week. Trading activity has slowed as buyers expect prices to fall further, while domestic supply is rising amid the peak harvest of the winter–spring crop.
Preliminary data show southern ports handled more than 382,000 tonnes of rice in February, most of which was shipped to the Philippines and African markets.
Although the conflict in the Middle East has not directly affected Vietnam’s rice shipments to Africa, traders said freight costs have surged due to higher insurance premiums and fuel prices.
