Fruit and vegetable exports to China continue to plummet

The monthly fruit and vegetables export turnover of each market in the first seven months of 2021 shows a significant downward trend in the Chinese market. From April 2021 to July 2021, Vietnam's fruit and vegetables export turnover to China continuously decreased, by an average of 15% per month.

According to data from the General Department of Vietnam Customs (Ministry of Finance), in August 2021, the fruit and vegetable export turnover reached US$230 million, down 13.2% compared to July 2021 and down 16.7% compared to August 2020. Accumulated in the first eight months of 2021, the fruit and vegetable export turnover reached more than US$2.497 billion, up 11.8% over the same period last year.

Speaking at an online conference to discuss solutions to overcome difficulties, restore processing and export of agricultural and aquatic products after social distancing according to Directive 16 in the South organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on September 17, 2021, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh, Chairman of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetables Association said that the development trend of fruit and vegetable export turnover in the first eight months of 2021 has shown that export turnover increased in the first four months of the year.

However, from May 2021, the turnover has dropped. August 2021 is the 4th consecutive month that export turnover has decreased by 22.5%.

"The serious impact of the pandemic forced Vietnam to apply the strongest prevention measures, causing the production and circulation of goods to be blocked and the supply chain broken," Mr. Binh said.

From a market perspective, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh said that the monthly export turnover of each market in the first seven months of 2021 has shown the declining trend of markets, especially the Chinese market.

Specifically, in the past seven months, the fruit and vegetable export turnover to China reached US$1.13 billion, up slightly from US$1.1 billion in the same period last year. However, a remarkable development is that from April 2021 to July 2021, the export turnover of Vietnamese vegetables and fruits to China continuously decreased, by an average of 15% per month.

In contrast to the Chinese market, Vietnam's fruit and vegetable export turnover to the US still maintained growth with the export value in the first seven months of this year reaching US$149 million, up nearly 50% over the same period in 2020.

The Chairman of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetables Association added that in August 2021, China has temporarily stopped importing dragon fruit at Ha Khau and Thien Bao border gates in Yunnan province (China), causing a sharp drop in the price of domestic dragon fruit. The reason given by China is that Vietnamese goods are suspected of being infected with SARS-CoV-2.

“Although ministries, branches, and localities actively work with China, the latest information is that China has reopened the border gates in Yunnan for dragon fruit and bananas, but if such incidents continue to happen, it will cause considerable damage to the Vietnamese economy and businesses,” Mr. Binh said.

The third and fourth quarters are the harvest seasons of many kinds of vegetables and fruits in all three regions of Vietnam. Supply will increase, prices will fluctuate depending on the local anti-pandemic measures and results.

According to the Chairman of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetables Association, the export market in the fourth quarter of 2021 may be positive when large markets such as the US, China, and Europe will recover, and demand will increase again.

Information from leading fruit and vegetable enterprises, especially processing enterprises, shows that orders from abroad remained strong. Therefore, the ability to export fruit and vegetables of Vietnam in the remaining months of 2021 will still increase compared to 2020.

On the import side, it is forecasted that in the months of 2021, the number of vegetables and fruits imported to Vietnam will increase.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as of August 15, 2021, localities across the country have planted 817,500 hectares of maize; 85,300 hectares of sweet potatoes; 155,200 hectares of peanuts; 35,800 hectares of soybeans; 958,600 hectares of vegetables and beans. The output of vegetables of all kinds will reach 12.511 million tons (in 2020 it will be 12.245 million tons). It is expected that in the third quarter of 2021, the output will reach 4.522 million tons.

Fruits of all kinds are better when they still maintain the growth in area and output due to favorable weather and increased productivity. The growth rate of some fruits is dragon fruit increased by 7.4%; mango by 3.3%; oranges by 3.1%; pomelo by 10.7%; lychee by 7.9%; logan by 3.4% compared to the same period last year.