Vietnam’s rice exports saw remarkable growth in the first six months of this year, with year-on-year increases of over 24 percent in volume and more than 42 percent in value. In June alone, Vietnam shipped abroad more than 600,000 tonnes of rice, raising the first half’s figure to 3.6 million tonnes. China remained the country’s largest rice importer, making up 30 percent of the market share. The export value also increased in other markets like Iraq, Malaysia, the US, China and the Philippines. Notably, Vietnam’s rice exports to Indonesia rose 290.8 times in volume and 269.5 times in value against the same period last year. Experts forecast that in the fourth quarter of this year and the first three months of 2019, rice demand will mainly come from the Philippines.