Cassava exports plummet during five-month period

Vietnam’s exports of cassava and cassava-based products suffered a remarkable drop during the first five months of the year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Photo: Cong Thuong newspaper

During the reviewed period, the nation exported 1.08 million tons of cassava, raking in US$414 million, down 17.6 per cent in volume and 11 per cent in value against the same period last year.

Due to falling demand from China, the forecast for the export of cassava and cassava-based products is pessimistic.

China remained the largest export market for Vietnamese cassava in the first four months of the year, accounting for 89.2 per cent, a drop of 16.4 per cent in volume and 3.5 per cent in value compared to last year’s corresponding period.

Representatives from the Agro Processing and Market Development Authority (Agrotrade), under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, attributed the decline to a sharp drop in the export of cassava starch via border gates and official channels.

China has also tightened regulatory controls on labelling, packaging, and information on Vietnamese cassava starch exported via border gates. In addition, China has reduced its standard VAT rate from 16 per cent to 13 per cent as of April 1. This has resulted in making the price of goods exported via border gates less competitive.

Moreover, the significantly increasing demand for cassavas chips has made Vietnamese businesses not rush to sign exports contracts to the Chinese market due to low export prices.

The export price of cassava and cassava-based products in May stood at US$408 per ton, an increase of 0.8 per cent in comparison to the previous month and down 10.2 per cent in comparison with the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the export price of cassava starch fell slightly to US$425 per ton, down 1.7 per cent from the previous month and a drop of 15.2 per cent in comparison with last year’s corresponding period.

The export price of cassava chips in May was US$222 per ton, a large fall of 8.0 per cent from last month and down 11.3 per cent against the same period last year.

Agrotrade forecasts that transactions concerning the export of cassavas and cassava-based products will continue to fall in the near future due to a decreased demand from China.

The export of cassava starch is also predicted to remain low until the year’s second quarter. However, the demand for cassava chips from China is predicted to recover after China levied 25 per cent import tariffs on US$60 billion worth of goods from the US.