Big hopes for rice, seafood, coffee, rubber

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has increased its export forecasts for several key agricultural staples in its latest market report.

In the report, the ministry said that it was upbeat about agricultural exports this year despite unfavourable weather conditions and increasing input costs, saying that rice, seafood, coffee and rubber would help increase the country’s agricultural exports.

After last year’s bumper rice crop of nearly 6.9 million tonnes, the ministry has increased its annual target of exporting 5.5-6.1 million tonnes of rice set earlier this year to 7.1-7.4 million tonnes.

Chairman of the Viet Nam Food Association Truong Thanh Phong said that rice exporters were close to their Q2 target of 2 million tonnes.

The country in the first quarter exported more than 1.8 million tonnes of rice worth US$884 million, up 42 per cent and 46 per cent in volume and value compared with the same period last year.

With regards to seafood, the report forecast that exports would reach $5.7-5.8 billion this year, $200 million higher than previously anticipated in December. Tra fish alone could earn the country up to $2 billion, up $300 million compared with December’s forecast, the ministry said.

“A further rebound of the world’s seafood consumption and the increasing cost of foodstuffs would contribute to boosting seafood exports for the rest of the year,” the report stated.

It said that this year’s coffee exports could reach more than 1.2 million tonnes worth roughly $2.6 billion, up 40.5 per cent in value over last year.

Chairman of the Viet Nam Coffee and Cocoa Association Luong Van Tu was also optimistic about this year’s coffee exports, due to the fact prices hit a record high in March and were forecast to remain high due to limited supply.

The International Coffee Organisation (ICO) forecast the global coffee yield from the 2010-11 crop would be up 8.6 per cent over the previous crop, however, reserves had dropped sharply by 33 per cent, draining coffee supplies to an 11-year low.

The ICO forecast that Viet Nam’s coffee yield from this year’s crop would be 18.4 million bags, up 1.3 per cent over the previous crop.

Low production in the world’s major coffee producers, including Brazil and Columbia, coupled with strong demand from India, Japan and China, had pushed coffee prices to nearly $3 per pound in early March for the first time in 14 years.

In the domestic market, coffee reached VND49 million ($2,300) per tonne on the back of the global activity.

Tu said if coffee prices remained high for the rest of the year, the industry could expect to fetch $2.6 billion from exports.

In the report, the ministry also expected rubber exports to reach $3 billion this year if demand remained unchanged from the world’s major importers, including China and Malaysia. Last year, the rubber industry earned nearly $2.4 billion from exports.

According to the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries, rubber prices had decreased since early March due to China’s attempts to curb inflation and the earthquake in Japan that had halted operations at automobile manufacturers.

However, the association forecast that the price decrease would not last long due to limited supply, saying it would increase again in the second quarter.

Chairman of the Viet Nam Rubber Association Le Quang Thung said that the country’s rubber yield this year would rise 4 per cent against last year to 780,000 tonnes, thanks to a 40,000ha increase in cultivation area. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam rice, Vietnam sesfood