HCMC – The country obtained US$15.9 billion from the exportation of agro-fishery-forestry products from January-July, up 12.4% year-on-year, thanks to the large contribution of an estimated US$8.9 billion from agro items, according to the latest figures by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Positive signs for farm product exports
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| Rice is bound for the Indonesia market in this fi le photo. Vietnam’s agro-fishery-forestry exports from January- July grew 12.4% year-on-year to US$15.9 billion - Photo: TH |
HCMC – The country obtained US$15.9 billion from the exportation of agro-fishery-forestry products from January-July, up 12.4% year-on-year, thanks to the large contribution of an estimated US$8.9 billion from agro items, according to the latest figures by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Most agro-fishery-forestry products witnessed steady growth in exports, except for rice and rubber. In particular, coffee exports hit 1.2 million tons and generated US$2.5 billion, up 31.6% in volume and 25.4% in value. The two largest consumers of Vietnamese coffee are Germany and the U.S.
In particular, there has been a robust increase in coffee exports to Indonesia with a nine-fold year-on-year increase. Meanwhile, the country recorded a 40% cut in the export volume of coffee beans in other markets like Belgium.
As for tea, the nation experienced excellent export performance in the major markets. Pakistan remains Vietnam’s biggest tea importer and makes up 19.2% of total tea exports.
Some 73,000 tons of tea have been shipped abroad in the past seven months, bringing the country total export value of US$108 million, up 5.9% in volume and 4.2% in value from 2011.
Cashew and pepper registered the highest export growth rate with 120,000 tons of cashew (worth US$828 million) sold overseas, representing a 36.5% surge in volume and a 19.2% jump against last year. Vietnam thus retains its position as the world’s No.1 cashew exporter.
The country saw export value of pepper rising 20% as it exported 80,000 tons of pepper worth US$546 million.
Given a downtrend in traditional export markets, the rice price is on the decline, with the quotation falling 6.6% to US$458 a ton. The country exported an estimated 4.6 million tons of rice worth US$2.1 billion.
The export value of seafood items is projected at US$3.4 billion this year so far, a 6.5% pick-up from the same period last year. The U.S. is still the main importer, followed by Japan and South Korea.
However, the National Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Quality Assurance Department has warned of difficulties facing Vietnam’s seafood industry, especially stringent technical barriers recently imposed by Japan.
Japan has emerged as a potential market for Vietnamese seafood. However, the importer has applied a set of technical barriers to seafood products imported from Vietnam such as minimal risk levels for several substances such as trifluralin, enrofloxacin and enthoxyquin.
The country expects to earn US$26.5 billion from agro-fishery-forestry products in 2012.