Rice news from Vietnam

Flood-hit Vietnam may curb rice exports
10/5/2005
HANOI, Oct 4 (PER CENTReuters):
Vietnam may halt rice exports for the second time this year to ensure there is sufficient food for people hit by recent flash floods, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was quoted by state media today as saying.
Dung urged the Agriculture and the Trade Ministries to report rice shipments so far and provide export projections for "a timely instruction on the halt of rice exports to ensure food security", the official Tien Phong newspaper said.
Typhoon Damrey and flash floods struck northern Vietnam last week, killing 69 people and destroying 318,000 hectares (786,000 acres) of crops, mainly rice, a government report said. Seafood and salt production were also hit by the disaster.