Major farm produces enjoy rise in export value despite fall in volume

Harvesting mangos (Source: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Major agricultural products enjoyed a rise in export value in the first half of this year despite a fall in volume, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

As of mid-June, Vietnam exported 133,124 tonnes of cashew nut for 1.284 billion USD, a drop of 4.11 percent year-on-year in volume but a 20.71 percent increase in value. Meanwhile, coffee exports fell 14.97 percent in volume and rose 11.5 percent in value.

Dang Hoang Giang, Vice President of the Vietnam Cashew Association said the cashew sector’s productivity plummetted, forcing it to import large amounts of raw cashew. Imported raw cashew nut in the first five months of this year rose 74.8 percent while import value increased 125.3 percent, he noted.

However, the price of exported cashew nut rose by 25 percent compared to the same period last year to reach 9,500 USD per tonne, explaining the rise in export value, he said. Giang also forecast that the situation will be the same for the rest of the year, thus total export volume of 2017 may reach 350,000 tonnes with total revenue of about 3.3 billion USD.

Giang said domestic consumption accounts for only 5-7 percent of total cashew output. Once the Global Cashew Council announces the nutrition value of cashew, the association will launch promotion programmes across the country, aiming to boost domestic sales to 20-30 percent of total cashew nut production, he said.

The fall in volume and rise in value is predicted to happen in coffee sector also. 

Nguyen Quang Binh, an expert in the sector said that coffee prices in the rest of the year may drop slightly due to abundant supply, but will still exceed last year’s average price. 

The General Department of Vietnam Customs reported that the rubber sector saw the highest growth in exports, with 411,960 tonnes of rubber shipped abroad for more than 787,550 million USD, a surge of 63.23 percent in revenue thanks to high price. In the first five months of this year, rubber price for export reached 1,957 USD per year, close to a 60 percent rise over the same period last year.

Among major farm produce, peppercorn suffered the sharpest decrease in export revenue at 16.8 percent year-on-year despite a rise of 18.3 percent in export volume. 

Vice President of the Vietnam Pepper Association (VPA) Nguyen Thi Mai Oanh said the decline was due to a slump in price caused by oversupply. She also predicted the price will continue falling for the rest of the year, leading to a fall in export value for the year.  

To survive and develop, domestic pepper farmers and businesses are trying to improve product quality to meet the requirements of foreign markets. Along with efforts to link exporters and farmers and renovate farming technology, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the VPA are working to build a trademark for Vietnamese pepper, while expanding markets to promising countries in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia.