Loc Troi signs half-million-ton-rice deal with exporter Vinafood I

Agricultural services and food conglomerate Loc Troi Group JSC struck a deal Thursday to supply 500,000 tons of rice to leading rice exporter Vietnam Northern Food Corp. (Vinafood I) in 2023.

On behalf of the private agricultural major, Loc Nhan Food JSC signed the large-scale agreement with Vinafood I in Ho Chi Minh City. The total value is about VND5 trillion ($210 million), Loc Troi said.

As part of the signing ceremony, the group announced its subsidiary Loc Troi Agricultural Products (LTA) has become a strategic shareholder in Loc Nhan but did not disclose the transaction details.

Loc Nhan operates three processing plants with a combined rice drying capacity exceeding 6,000 tons a day. The company estimates its 2022 revenue at VND350 trillion ($14.7 billion), and had already signed supply deals for next year of up to 350,000 tons of rice, not including Thursday’s deal.

Taking Loc Nhan’s plants into account, LTA has eight factories with a total rice drying capacity of 12,000 tons a day to turn out 6,000 tons of polished rice a day, equivalent to two million tons of rice per year.

This October, Loc Troi Group secured a $100-million, three-year syndicated loan provided by seven domestic and foreign banks in Vietnam to expand high-quality rice production and supply.

Vietnam is one of the world’s leading rice exporters. The Mekong Delta is the country’s rice bowl, and most of Loc Troi Group’s rice business is in the delta.