HANOI, March 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Vietnam exported 170,000 tons of
rice in the first two months this year, earning 36 million U.S.
dollars, according to Vietnam's Trade Ministry.
   The figures respectively represented 60 percent decrease in
export volume and 50 percent decrease in export earnings as
compared with the same period last year.
   The country is expected to export about 450,000 tons of rice in
the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year decrease of 42
percent.
   Vietnam's rice traders have contracts signed and sealed to
export more than 1.3 million tons of rice by the second quarter of
this year, according to the Trade Ministry of the country.
   Last year, Vietnam produced nearly 32 million tons of rice,
about 1.7 percent less than the previous year, and exported 3.7
million tons of rice, earning a total of 624 million U.S. dollars,
seven percent higher in volume but 11 percent lower in value.
   The Vietnamese government is striving to export volume to come
in at around the same figure this year.  Enditem