Article about Vietnam's rice crisis

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derivative filename/jpeg

363-06870 to 363-06877.pdf

Digital Object Identifier

363-06870 to 363-06877

Title

Article about Vietnam's rice crisis

Description

Original title: "rice", Keever's title: "A 'Rice Bridge' and U.S. Imports Have Stabilized Price", Article about Vietnam's rice shortage crisis

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Draft transcripts were automatically generated via Google Document AI and are currently under review. Please report significant errors to Archives & Special Collections at archives@unl.edu.

Transcript

DEEPE rice--page 1 sept. 8, 1965 SAIGON--Vietnam’s rice crisis is beginning to ease, but has not been completely solved, high placed economic sources reported today. The critical problem of rice--the price [deletion: cottich] which had been skyrocketing, has now stabilized lower than the government’s official coiling--has been eased by an energetic program by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Cao Ky, and more important, by a multi-million-dollar program of mass emergency imports of American-financed rice. In addition, a “rice bridge” has been established for distribution of the rice to the provinces, in order to by-pass the problem of Viet Cong control and sabotage of some of Vietnam’s major roads. This “rice bridge” involves improved sea transport to the coastal provinces; turbo-jet airlifts of rice or mile-long rice convoys, reinforced heavily with military escorts, to the inland provinces. Deepe rice--page 2 The threat of semi-starvation of the population in six land-locked mountain provinces has been temporarily averted. The problems of these provinces, traditionally rice deficit areas, were compounded by a severe flood last fall. Vietnam’s rice problems are more complex--and uncontrollable--than America’s farm problems. Vietnam’s rice problem also reflects flood damage, Viet Cong taxes and control of the rice producing areas, and [insertion: of the] roads over which the rice is [deletion: distributed] transported. Deepe rice--page 3 When Vietnamese Prime Minister Ky took over the government on June 19 of this year, the market price of rice jumped from 575 piastres per 100 kilos to more than 890 piastres per 100 kilos. (Official rate of 73 piastres per $1). Ky immediately announced a price ceiling of 700 piastres per 100 kilos; the rice disappeared from the market as Chinese businessmen hoarded their stocks. Saigon housewives panicked and the price skyrocketed to as much as 1400 piastres per 100 kilos. Ky promised sharp measures against rice speculators, threatening to arrest and shoot them. Only two Chinese speculators were arrested--and jailed, but not shot, but rice merchants, through government persuasion and coercion, sold 70,000 tons of rice during July to the government. Still, however, the Vietnamese government’s annual security stocks of 100,000 tons of rice was almost depleted by the end of June and the Vietnamese government entered serious negotiations with the American economic mission here to import more rice, which flooded the market, and eliminated some of the shortages. Deepe rice--page 4 Thus far in 1965, America has [insertion: agreed to] finance the importing of _[insertion: 225,000]_ tons of rice. [deletion: Throughout the remainder of the year, 125,000 tons are] which is scheduled to arrive in Vietnam as follows: 25,000 tons for August and September (the first boat reached Danang August 28 with 11,600 tons); 50,000 tons from the United States for October and November; 25,000 tons from Thailand and 125,000 tons from the United States later in the year. [deletion: An additional amount of 100,000 tons is being considered for importing at the end of 1965.] Cost of the program: US $135 per ton plus a freight charge varying between US $93 to 100 per ton. (the freight between Thailand and Saigon is cheaper). Roughlyspeaking, the total cost of 125,000 tons of imported rice would cost the American economic mission [insertion: over] [deletion: about] US $50 million. 25,000 50,000 25,000 ____ 100,000 125,00 90 2,00,000 ____ 18,000,000 225,000 135 ____ 1125000 675000 [illegible]25000 30[illegible]75,000 18,000000 ____ [illegible]75,000 Deepe rice--page 5 The current government-controlled rice stock of 170,000 tons is estimated to meet the needs of Vietnam until the end of October. The monthly consumption is estimated at 50,000 tons, of which 15,000 tons is needed for Saigon alone. However, the rice crisis is not considered by economic experts to be completely solved because Communist sabotage of the routes of communication. The Viet-Cong (Vietnamese Communist) coupled [insertion: their] military [insertion: actions] campaign with an economic campaign in early May designed to dislorate the Saigon government’s [deletion: by] economy, [insertion: by] cutting the country into a number of isolated sectors. They disrupted the network of roads and [insertion: the] national railway system. Almost all village roads, district and provincial roads, inter-provincial and national roads were cut and bridges sabotaged shipping remained the only means of transport for [insertion: Northern] coastal provinces. Until the beginning of September there were only 13 freighter for the coastal ports carrying a total [deletion: a freight loads] of 8,500 tons [deletion: during two] on bi-monthly trips [deletion: a month]. Currently, however, the ships make only one trip a month because of shipping traffic jams, and the lack of adequate port facilities. When the [insertion: military] ships unloaded military equipment for the [insertion: American] military build-up, all boats carrying civilian goods [deletion: amitt] such as rice anchored far from the landing pier and the civilian porters were unavailable. Deepe rice-page 6 Consequently, 12 to 15 days of waiting elapsed [insertion: before] the cargoes could be unloaded. As a result black marketeering of sea freight occurred; the official rate for sea freight jumped [deletion: a ton] from 600 piastres a ton to 4,000 piastres, a ton; with the consumers bearing the mark-up. The government has taken strong measures to curb this blackmarketing and to improve transport of civilian necessities. The United States mission here, and the Vietnamese government is improving the port facilities of coastal ports. The number of barges [XXXX indicating deletion] needed for unloading and the number of porters has been increased. Eight ships totalling 11,600 tons of freight have been rented, the United States economic Mission recently agreed to contract eight additional ships totalling 12,000 tons. Private Vietnamese companies--brewery companies in Saigon-are encouraged to use their private [deletion: boat] ships to transport rice instead of beer and soft drinks. Sea-going vessels recently began unloading their rice cargoes directly at coastal ports instead of in Saigon harbour, to eliminate [insertion: the need for] trans-shipments. Deepe rice-page 7 The Vietnamese government has another major problem of inland transportation. From the coastal beach-heads secured by Vietnamese and American troops where imported rice is unloaded, the government must trans-ship rice into six major land-locked provinces, near the Laotian-Cambodian borders threatened with semi-starvation people in these provinces were forced to eat corn or manior instead of rice. [deletion: Last month] Last August the Vietnamese Air Force reinforced the National civil airline Air Vietnam and air lifted 1,200 tons--half of their needs--of rice to those six provinces. [deletion: This month] Last September the United States government agreed to supplement the Vietnamese airlift of rice with special flights of giant C-130 turbo-jet transports which can carry between seven and [deletion: eith] eigth tons per flight. As the Communists [deletion: had cut] cut all roads leading from the coast to inland provinces, Vietnamese troops and American paratroopers have temporarily reopened two main roads to transport rice in mile-long convoys, escorted by strong military forces to prevent the Communists from seizing the rice they badly need. Rice arriving at the provincial cities of these six provinces, the rice is airlifted on smaller cargo planes to various isolated parts because interprovincial and districts roads are cut. Deepe rice-page 8 The Mekong Delta South of Saigon produces yearly about 2.8 million tons of rice; the 14 million people of South Viet Nam consume about 2.016 million tons yearly [deletion: a year], South Vietnam should have a surplus of 784,000 tons of rice for export. But the Viet Cong military and economic pressure has prevented the Saigon government from [deletion: seising] securing all [insertion: of] the rice production; and South Viet Nam has now stopped exporting rice and has been forced to import it.

Date

1965, Sep. 8

Subject

Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Rice trade; Rice farming; Scarcity; Economic assistance; Bridges

Location

Saigon, South Vietnam

Coordinates

10.8231; 106.6311

Size

20 x 26 cm

Container

B187, F6

Format

dispatches

Collection Number

MS 363

Collection Title

Beverly Deepe Keever, Journalism Papers

Creator

Keever, Beverly Deepe

Collector

Keever, Beverly Deepe

Copyright Information

These images are for educational use only. To inquire about usage or publication, please contact Archives & Special Collections.

Publisher

Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries

Language

English