(Bloomberg) -- Vietnam’s General Department of State Reserves plans to have 190,000 tons of rice in storage by June 15 to ensure the country has enough food amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, the finance ministry said on its website.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc this week ordered the suspension of new rice export contracts through at least March 28. The country is the world’s third-largest exporter, behind India and Thailand.

The department of state reserves will also stockpile 80,000 tons of paddy rice this year. In 2019, the department put in storage 200,000 tons of rice and 80,000 tons of paddy rice for the entire year.

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