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Agricultural exports decline
Export turnover from agricultural, forestry and seafood products in January declined by 16.3 per cent compared to the same period last year to about US$1.8 billion due to the global economic difficulties, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
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| Workers of Tho Quang Seafood Processing and Export Co check shrimp quality. Export turnover from agricultural, forestry and seafood products in January declined by 16.3 per cent compared to the same period last year to about US$1.8 billion. |
Agricultural products made up $1.1 billion of the total, down 19 per cent, while seafood and forestry products contributed $370 million and $300 million, down 13.3 per cent and 18.2 per cent, respectively.
Director of the ministry's Centre for Information and Statistics Nguyen Viet Chien said that export value for all of the country's key agricultural products decreased in January.
Last month, the country exported only 400,000 tonnes of rice worth $240 million, down 25.4 per cent in volume and 14.2 per cent in value, Chien said, adding that besides the prolonged global economic difficulties, domestic rice businesses also failed to win new export contracts due to higher prices compared to their Indian and Pakistani counterparts.
Coffee exports experienced a similar trend, seeing a 20.9 per cent reduction in volume to 60,000 tonnes and 15.3 per cent in value to $200 million. Coffee prices were also forecast to decline continuously in the coming months.
January's export value for rubber reached only $200 million, down 38.7 per cent compared to the same period last year, due to decreasing demand around the globe in the wake of the EU debt crisis.
With these results, the ministry was concerned that export value of many agricultural products would decrease sharply in 2012 compared to last year.
If the EU and world economies did not improve, rubber export turnover could decline by $1 billion compared to last year to roughly $2.1 billion despite a rising export volume of 880,000 tonnes, the ministry said.
This year's pepper and coffee exports are expected to reach only $620 million and $2 billion, down 16 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively, compared to last year.
In 2011, the country gained an impressive $25 billion from agricultural, forestry and seafood exports, up 29 per cent over the previous year.
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