Fruit, vegetable exports up 37% in January

Việt Nam’s export of fruit, vegetable up 37 per cent in January. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam earned some US$321 million from fruit and vegetable exports in January 2018, a year-on-year increase of 36.9 per cent, says the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

China, Japan, the United States and the Republic of Korea remained the biggest importers of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables in the month. Other markets with strongly soaring fruit and vegetable imports from Việt Nam were Japan (69.3 per cent), the United Arab Emirates (56.3 per cent) and China (52.4 per cent).

Việt Nam, meanwhile, imported $152 million worth of these commodities in January, of which fruits accounted for 76 per cent.

MARD said the domestic fruit market saw great fluctuations, with a rise in the price of dragon fruit in the Mekong Delta region.

The trend is expected to continue in the lead-up to the Tết (Lunar New Year) festival.

Prices of star apple and jack fruit also climbed up, reaching VNĐ15,000 (US 7 cents) and VNĐ43,000 ($1.9) per kg, due to increasing demand for these two fruits in the United States and China, respectively.

Meanwhile, the price of orange in the Mekong Delta region fell dramatically due to abundant supply and crop disease.

Prices of several vegetables also dropped in the Central Highlands province of Lâm Đồng due to high supply fuelled by favourable weather.

For instance, the price fell by VNĐ500 per kilo to VNĐ3,000 for cabbage; by VNĐ2,000 per kilo to VNĐ8,000 for tomatoes, and by VNĐ2,000 per kilo to VNĐ20,000 for broccoli against the prices in the beginning of January 2018.

In 2017, Việt Nam achieved a year-on-year surge of 40.5 per cent in the export value of vegetables and fruits to $3.45 billion