Vietnam, the world's second-largest rice exporter, shipped 5.92 million metric tons from the start of the year to Oct. 6, the Vietnam Food Association said.

Shipments were 36,977 tons from Oct. 1 to Oct. 6, the association said in a statement on its website Monday.

Vietnam may ship 7.52 million tons of rice in 2011, the country's agricultural ministry said in an Oct. 3 report. The nation exported 6.75 million tons of rice last year, according to the association.