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Leap in agriculture, seafood exports
Export turnover of farm produce, forest products and seafood increased 13.5 per cent year on year to US$8.6 billion in the first half of 2010, reports the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Although recording the lowest growth rate at 5.8 per cent, farm produce remained a leading hard-currency earner with an export turnover of $4.6 billion in the period under review.
Rice earned $1.87 billion from exports of 3.6 million tonnes, an increase of 7 per cent, although export volume decreased 2.3 per cent over the same period last year.
The Philippines is the largest importer of Viet Nam's rice, spending $759 million to buy 50.6 per cent of the total volume.
Of the top 10 markets of Viet Nam rice, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong made sharp increases in import volumes.
Economists predict a bright future for Vietnamese rice based on rises in both world demand and prices.
The exportation of rubber, tea and cashew nuts also showed similar signs. The rubber sector, for example, exported 207,000 tonnes of latex for $565 million. This represents a decrease of 18 per cent in export volume, but a 57 per cent surge in value.
Tea exports of 52,000 tonnes were worth $70 million, a decrease of 1.7 per cent in quantity, but an increase of 6.2 per cent in revenues.
Cashew-nut exports recorded an increase of more than 20 per cent in turnover, although shipments did not rise.
The turnover from pepper exports grew almost 48 per cent to $234 million, although export volume climbed up just 9 per cent. The US kept its ranking as the biggest customer of Viet Nam 's pepper.
Coffee was the only agricultural export to suffer a drop in both turnover and shipments. Export turnover fell by more than 16 per cent to $925 million, while export volume dropped more than 10 per cent to 664,000 tonnes.
Economists blame the failure to a drop of $98 a tonne in the world market in the first five months of the year - plus an over supply.
The export of forest products, which earned a total $1.59 billion or 29 per cent increase year on year, and timber furniture, had turnovers up almost 31 per cent.
The US remained the largest market, garnering almost 40 per cent of Viet Nam 's exports. It was followed by Japan with 12.5 per cent.
Seafood exports enjoyed growth of more than 13 per cent, earning $2 billion. The European Union was the largest importer of Viet Nam 's seafood, generating 25.5 per cent of the country's export value at $420 million. It was followed by Japan and the US.
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