HCMC – The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has estimated the total export value of agro-forestry-fishery products to reach US$1.8 billion, down 16.3% year-on-year.
According to this month’s report, the export turnover of major export agricultural, fishery and forestry products reached around US$1.1 billion, US$370 million and US$300 million with a drop of 19%, 13.3% and 18.2% respectively from the same period last year.
The turnover drop resulted from market difficulties and declining prices. Besides, purchases were made within only 20 days of this month due to the New Year and Tet holidays.
Specifically, the rice price dropped slightly due to undercutting from India and Pakistan. Local firms only exported around 400,000 tons of rice this month with a turnover of US$240 million, dropping by 25.4% in volume and 14.2% in value.
The drop was also seen in coffee, another major export product, due to global economic difficulties, especially in European markets. Accordingly, local exporters only obtained US$350 million from 170,000 tons of coffee exported, showing a drop of 20.9% in volume and 15.3% in value.
Meanwhile, the rubber export volume was about 60,000 tons this month, down around 19% and 39% respectively, as Chinese importers have thinned trading due to the week-long Tet holday.
However, the prices of black pepper and cashews are still unchanged on global markets, with 4,000 tons of black pepper shipped abroad to fetch US$30 million.
The total export turnover of agro-forestry-fishery products was around US$25 billion last year, up 27.9% from the previous year, according to the agriculture ministry.
