Vietnam to cut annual rice exports by 44% to 4 million tonnes by 2030

HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam aims to cut its rice exports to 4 million tonnes a year by 2030 from 7.1 million tonnes last year, the government said in a document detailing its rice export strategy.

Vietnam is the world's third largest rice exporter, after India and Thailand.

The move is aimed at "boosting the exports of high-quality rice, ensuring domestic food security, protecting the environment and adapting to climate change," according to the government document dated May 26 and reviewed by Reuters.

Rice export revenue will fall to $2.62 billion a year by 2030, down from $3.45 billion in 2022, the document said.

Vietnam will diversify its rice export markets to reduce its reliance on any single country, the document said. The Philippines has long been Vietnam's biggest rice buyer, accounting for 45% of its shipments last year.

By 2025, 60% of Vietnamese rice exports will be shipped to Asian markets, 22% to Africa, 7% to America, 4% to the Middle East and 3% to Europe, the document said.

The government said Vietnam will focus on the production of high-quality, fragrant and glutinous rice, while reducing the production of low-quality grains to 15% of total output by 2025 and to 10% by 2030.

(Reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by Tom Hogue and Kim Coghill)