Agriculture records 7M trade surplus of $4bn

Illustrative image (Source: datviet)

Export turnover in the agriculture, forestry and fishery sector in July was $3.11 billion, bringing the figure for the first seven months of the year to $20.45 billion, a 14.7 per cent increase year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development.

The export value of key agricultural products was $10.89 billion, up 18 per cent year-on-year. Aquatic product exports were estimated at $4.31 billion, a 17.5 per cent increase, with forestry product exports totaling $4.41 billion, up 10.8 per cent.

Imports of agriculture, forestry and fishery products in July, meanwhile, were $2.53 billion, bringing the seven-month figure to $16.42 billion, up 23.8 per cent year-on-year.

The sector therefore recorded a trade surplus of $4.03 billion in the first seven months of the year.

In the first seven months of last year, agriculture exports totaled $17.8 billion and imports $13.31 billion, for a surplus of $4.49 billion, or $460 million more than this year.

It took vegetables nine months to reach $1.68 billion in exports last year, surpassing rice but behind coffee and cashew nuts, while vegetable exports in the first seven months of this year totaled $2.03 billion, an increase of nearly 49 per cent year-on-year, exceeding cashew nuts and only slightly trailing coffee.  

Though increasing 24 per cent, the export value of cashew nuts was only $1.83 billion, while coffee exports were $2.12 billion, up year-on-year but only $90 million higher than vegetables.

Vegetables were listed as one of ten key agriculture exports in April, and if its growth is maintained it will surpass coffee by the end of this year and become the third-largest export product.

The two products with the largest export value in the first seven months were aquatic products, with $4.3 billion, and wooden products, with $4.2 billion.

Rice exports in July were estimated at 465,000 tons worth $201 million, taking the seven-month figures to 3.3 million tons and $1.5 billion, up 15.7 per cent and 13.7 per cent, respectively, year-on-year.