US emerges as largest consumer of Vietnamese farm produce

The United States surpassed China to become the largest importer of Vietnamese agricultural products during the initial two months of the year, with export turnover reaching over US$2 billion, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

Processing cashew nuts for export (Photo: VNA)

This figure represents an increase of 57.3% in comparison to the same period from last year, making up approximately 33.05% of the overall market share. Elsewhere, China ranked second with export turnover reaching US$1.88 billion, an annual increase of 57.9%.

Farm produce exports to the ASEAN market also witnessed an increase of 25.2% to US$606 million, accounting for 9.82% of the total, while exports to the EU suffered a decline of 3.1% to US$594 million.

A MARD representative revealed that the total import-export turnover of agro-forestry-fishery products throughout the reviewed period stood at an estimated US$11 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of roughly US$1.37 million, an increase of 28.4% compared to the same period from last year.

Strong export growth has been recorded in rubber, tea, cashew nuts, vegetables, and forest products, while coffee, rice, pepper, shrimp, and tra fish (pangasius) exports endured a downward trajectory.