Vietnam spends nearly US$1.7 billion on corn import every year

The figures represented increases of 9% in volume and 11% in value compared to the same period last year.

Vietnam spends up to US$1.7 billion a year on average to buy corn from Argentina, Brazil and Thailand.

Corn import is on the rise due to the country’s limited plantation, which covers just over 1 million hectares, and difficult cultivation conditions that have led to low productivity, at 4.6 tonnes per hectare on average. Increasing demand for animal feed also contributes to the cause.

The agricultural body plans to shift between 700,000 and 800,000 hectares of low-productivity rice paddies to the cultivation of other plants, with corn making up the lion’s share.