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Fish, timber exports stay stable
Viet Nam's agro-forestry and fishery exports in the first two months this year are forecast to reach US$3.6 billion. This figure is on par with the same period last year, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
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| Workers at Dong Giao Foodstuff Processing Company in the northern province of Ninh Binh process pineapples for export. |
The export values of rice, coffee and rubber declined, while those of other traditional Vietnamese agro-forestry products continued to rise, such as cashew nuts, tea and pepper.
Pepper topped the exports list with an increase of more than 40 per cent over the same period last year. In the first two months, 6,000 tonnes of pepper were exported, earning US$42 million.
The export prices of many main agro-forestry and fishery products have been on a downward trend since late last year. As a result, the total export value of these products reached nearly US$2 billion, a decrease of 13.2 per cent over the same period last year, MARD explained.
Rice exports in the first two months reached 756,000 tonnes, worth US$437 million, which represented a 26.6 per cent drop in quantity and a 16.1 per cent drop in value. So far this year, rice exporters have not signed many export contracts. Indonesia is still the biggest importer of Vietnamese rice, accounting for more than half of the country's total rice exports. However, the export volume and value to the Indonesian market this year only reached two-thirds of last year's figures.
Coffee export volume in the first two months of this year reported 312,000 tonnes worth US$632 million, a decline of 13 per cent and 11.8 per cent in quantity and value respectively against the same period last year. Big market importers reported a sharp decline in the first two months. Coffee exports to Italian and Belgian markets were reduced by half and one-third each. Rubber exports decreased at all large markets due to the global economic upheaval. Rubber exports are estimated at 80,000 tonnes worth of US$220 million.
Tea exports reached 19,000 tonnes, valued at US$ 28 million, which indicated an increase of 14.8 per cent and 19.2 per cent in terms of quantity and value respectively. Major tea import markets such as Pakistan and Russia saw dramatically lowered demand, but new markets stepped up to take their place. Export volume doubled in Indonesia and rose 1.8 times in Saudi Arabia.
Value exports of forestry products and wooden items in the first two months were estimated at US$626 million, marking an increase of 18.7 per cent. Seafood products earned US$763 million, up 12.7 per cent over the same period last year
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