Agricultural export: rice and rubber make long strides

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said export revenue of agricultural, forest and aquatic products reached US$1.75 billion in September, raising total export turnover in the first nine months of the year to US$13.93 billion, a year on year increase of 22.3 percent.

Of the total, agricultural products raked in US$7.32 billion, up 21 percent, and seafood earned US$3.47 billion, up 14.2 percent. Forest products brought in US$2.6 billion, a rise of 36.3 percent year on year.

With this strong growth, the agricultural sector is increasing its proportion of the country’s exports, with 23 percent in the first five months, 26.5 percent in seven months and over 27 percent in nine months.

These results are attributed to expanding export markets, coupled with increasing export volumes of staples. On top of that, the prices of rice, rubber, tea, cashew nuts, pepper and other items were higher than in the same period of 2009.

Vietnam exported 600,000 tonnes of rice worth US$230 million in September, bringing the nine-month total to 5.55 million tonnes and US$2.56 billion, respective increases of 11.75 percent and 14.35 percent.

Although the rice export price slid marginally in September from the previous month, the average price in the eight months was US$470 per tonne, up 3 percent over the same period last year. According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the prices of Vietnamese rice have come close to those of Thailand, the world’s largest rice exporter.

But the biggest price gain was seen in rubber export. In the first nine months, Vietnam shipped 531,000 tonnes of rubber, earning US$1.45 billion. Rubber exports rose only 10.9 percent in volume but saw double the value compared to the same period last year, thanks to an 85.9 percent increase in price.

Cassava export raked in US$384 million in the first nine months, down 18.1 percent from last year, while tea export generated US$146 million, up 16.7 percent and cashew nut export was valued US$780 million, up 30.1 percent.

Vietnam encountered numerous difficulties in exporting coffee. Although the country shipped 925,000 tonnes worth US$1.32 billion, up 4.2 percent in volume and 0.9 percent in value, foreign importers still raised barriers for Vietnamese companies by delaying payment or changing fixed dates.

Meanwhile, forest product exports were rather positive. The export turnover of forest products was estimated at US$320 million in September and accumulated US$2.6 billion in the nine months, including US$2.43 billion from timber and woodworks, up 37.7 percent.

Seafood continued as the country’s strategic export item with US$3.5 billion in nine-month export turnover. Seafood was the third largest forex earner in Vietnam after apparel and crude oil.

In the nine-month period, Vietnam imported US$9.5 billion worth of materials for agro-forestry-seafood production, up 27.1 percent year-on-year.

Tags: Vietnam Agricultural exports