Vietnam’s agricultural exports soar 34%

Exports of agricultural, forestry and seafood products in the first eight months of the year reached US$16.4 billion, up 34.2 percent over the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
In the period, key agricultural products such as rice, coffee and rubber accounted for $9.3 billion, up 44 per cent; seafood hit $3.7 billion, up 24.4 per cent; and forestry products reached $2.6 billion, up 12.4 per cent.

In August alone, the country exported $2.2 billion worth of produce, up $200 million against the previous month.

Director of the ministry’s Information and Statistics Centre Nguyen Viet Chien said a global price hike had helped lift turnover significantly as export volume of many key export items had risen only slightly during the period.

Thanks to a price rise of about 50 per cent, coffee exports earned $2.1 billion in the first eight months, up by more than 72 per cent over the same period last year, though shipments were up by only 12 per cent to 960,000 tonnes.

Rubber export turnover during the period also surged nearly 70 per cent to $1.9 billion, despite an export volume rise of only 4.1 per cent to nearly 450,000 tonnes. Average rubber export prices during the period reached $4,346 per tonne, up more than 58 per cent over the same period last year.

With a shipment of 5.4 million tonnes, up 9.4 per cent, rice was the largest export earner of agricultural products with $2.7 billion, up 14.6 per cent. Most Vietnamese rice was exported to the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cuba, Senegal, Bangladesh and Ivory Coast.

With an export turnover of $2.4 billion in the first eight months, up 13.5 per cent over the same period last year, woodwork products were the main contributor to the high rise in the export of the country’s forestry products during the first eight months, the ministry said, attributing the sector to the increasing demand in major import markets of China and Japan.

As demand for Viet Nam’s agricultural, forestry and seafood products is showing positive signs, the ministry has forecast the industry will exceed the export target of $23 billion this year, up by nearly $3.8 billion over last year.

In addition to enhancing inspections to ensure the quality of export agricultural, forestry and seafood products, the ministry said it would also further invest in infrastructure and assist farmers to better classify their products to be able to meet strict quality regulations imposed by importing countries.

Trade promotions in both traditional and new markets would also be launched to help the industry meet export targets, the ministry said.
Vietnam News

Tags: Vietnam Agricultural exports