UPDATE 1-Vietnam's rice exports up 2 percent, prices dip

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By Ho Binh Minh

HANOI, July 21 (Reuters) - Vietnam has exported 2.54 million tonnes of rice since the start of this year, up 2 percent from the same period last year, leaving less than 1 million tonnes to be shipped through September under a government curb.

Vietnam has capped rice exports from January to September at 3.5 million tonnes, but officials have said shipment by the year-end could hit 4.5 million tonnes, similar to 2007 when Vietnam was the world's third-largest exporter of rice after Thailand and India.

Rice exports during the first 18 days of July totalled 242,700 tonnes, bringing the cumulative shipment so far this year to 2.54 million tonnes, the Vietnam Food Association said in its weekly report.

It said revenues of the grain exports had reached $1.42 billion, nearly double revenues of $723 million from 2.49 million tonnes shipped in the same period last year. Vietnam has projected rice export earnings of $3 billion for the whole of 2008.

Most of Vietnamese rice exported so far this year has gone to the Philippines, the world's larges importer of the grain.

The Philippines has spent around $1.54 billion this year buying 2.3 million tonnes of rice, mainly from Vietnam and Thailand, to fill a gap in local production and increase its stockpile.

Vietnam has won contracts to sell about 1.6 million tonnes of rice to the Philippines via tenders and which are considered government deals.