The agro-forestry-seafood sector earned 1.75 billion USD from exports in
September, raising its total export turnover in the first nine months
of the year to 13.93 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 22.3
percent.
Of the total, agricultural products
brought home 7.32 billion USD, up 21 percent and seafood, 3.47 billion
USD, up 14.2 percent.
Rice topped the
list of agro-forestry products in terms of both export volume and value
with 5.55 million tonnes worth 2.56 billion USD in the nine-month
period, representing respective increases of nearly 12 percent and over
14 percent. The prices of Vietnamese rice have come close to those of
Thailand , the world’s largest rice exporter.
Several other agricultural products also recorded increases in both
export volume and value, including coffee with 925,000 tonnes, earning
over 1.3 billion USD, up 4.2 percent in volume and nearly 1 percent in
value. Germany was Vietnam ’s largest coffee consumer with 13.5
percent of the country’s total export volume, followed by the US
with 12.7 percent.
Rubber exports rose only 10.9
percent in volume but saw a double growth in value compared to the same
period last year thanks to an 86-percent increase in price. In the first
nine months, Vietnam shipped 531,000 tonnes of rubber, earning 1.45
billion USD. China was Vietnam ’s biggest rubber importer that
accounted for over 57 percent of the country’s total export value.
The country’s tea export turnover reached 146 million USD, soaring
16.7 percent year-on-year while the export volume increased only 4
percent with 100,000 tonnes. Pakistan was the largest importer of
Vietnam ’s tea products, followed by Taiwan and Russia .
Vietnam remained the number one cashew nut exporter in the
world. In the reviewed period, the country exported 143,000 tonnes worth
780 million USD, up 10 percent in volume and 30 percent in value.
Vietnamese cashew nuts were shipped to 50 countries and territories
worldwide with the US being the largest consumer, accounting for
nearly 34 percent of the country’s total export value.
Pepper saw a decrease of 5.6 percent on volume but its export value
was up over 30 percent over last year’s correspondent period with
102,000 tonnes and 345 million USD respectively.
Forest products and timber recorded a high export turnover of 2.6
billion USD. However, the nine-month import turnover of timber material
still reached 827 million USD despite a year-on-year drop of up to 30.9
percent.
Seafood continued to affirm itself as the
country’s strategic export item with 3.5 billion USD in nine-month
export turnover. Japan and the US were the two largest consumers
of Vietnamese seafood with respective proportions of 18.4 percent and 18
percent.
In the nine-month period, Vietnam
imported 9.5 billion USD worth of materials for agro-forestry-seafood
production, up over 27 percent year-on-year./.
