Vietnam paddy prices rise as Senegal suspends new rice import certificates

Fresh paddy gains in the Mekong Delta

Fresh paddy prices rose sharply in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta on 14 July, extending a positive trend in the domestic rice market. Vietnambiz, citing an update from An Giang province’s Department of Agriculture and Environment, reported increases of 500 dong per kilogram for several major varieties compared with the end of the previous week.

Fresh Dai Thom 8 climbed to 6,900-7,100 dong per kilogram, while IR 50404 reached 6,000-6,200 dong. OM 5451 rose to 6,300-6,500 dong per kilogram. OM 34 remained stable at 5,600-5,700 dong, and OM 18 traded at 6,300-6,500 dong per kilogram.

Movements in processed rice and by-products were more limited. Raw IR 504 rice added 10 dong per kilogram to 9,100-9,200 dong, while raw CL 555 remained at 9,400-9,500 dong. Fragrant broken rice held at 8,200-8,300 dong per kilogram, but rice bran declined by 50 dong to 7,900-8,050 dong.

Export quotations remain stable across Asia

Vietnamese export offers showed little change, according to Vietnam Food Association data cited by Vietnambiz. Vietnamese fragrant rice with 5% broken content was offered at $510-520 per tonne, Jasmine rice at $513-517, and 5% broken white rice at $410-414 per tonne. These levels leave Vietnamese fragrant grades at a substantial premium to standard white rice.

Among competing origins, Thai 5% broken rice had the highest quoted range at $471-475 per tonne. Pakistan’s comparable product stood at $408-412. Indian 5% broken white rice was offered at $350-354 per tonne, while Indian 5% broken parboiled rice was quoted at $341-345. The spread highlights the price choices facing importers as policy restrictions in individual destinations alter access to demand.

Senegal pauses certificates to reduce local stocks

Senegal has temporarily stopped issuing food import declaration certificates, known as DIPA, for rice for one month from 8 July, Vietnambiz reported following a meeting involving Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade and rice-sector participants. Local media said the measure is intended to reduce pressure from imported rice and create more sales opportunities for Senegalese producers and millers. Senegal introduced a similar measure in November 2025.

The Senegal River Delta and Falémé Valley Development Agency estimates that mills currently hold about 37,000 tonnes of milled rice. Senegal has set a domestic purchase price of 280 CFA francs per kilogram and plans to support mills with 50 CFA francs per kilogram toward processing costs. Under a new market mechanism, importers will have to demonstrate that they have purchased a prescribed quantity of locally produced rice before receiving new import approval.

The restriction addresses inventories but not Senegal’s underlying supply deficit. The US Department of Agriculture forecasts Senegalese milled rice production of about 670,000 tonnes in the 2026-2027 marketing year, against consumption of nearly 2.35 million tonnes. It expects imports to rise by 7.69% to about 1.4 million tonnes. For exporters, the one-month suspension may therefore delay shipments and approvals rather than remove Senegal’s longer-term import requirement.