Agricultural exports see many bright spots

According to the General Department of Customs, exports of fruit and vegetables reached nearly US$2 billion in the first ten months of 2016, up more than 30% over the same period of last year. Total revenue figures for the whole year are expected to reach US$2.3-2.4 billion.

Fruit accounted for nearly 74% of revenues in this export category, with 29 kinds of fruits shipped to many markets around the world, including demanding ones such as Japan, the US, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia and the Republic of Korea. 

Dragon fruit, longan, watermelon and mango are among the highest-earning. According to the Department for Plant Protection, there is still much room for fruit and vegetable exports, which are currently shipped mainly to China.

Therefore, revenues are bound to increase further if trade promotion activities are more effective.

Although it has not experienced a breakthrough, seafood has still proved to be one of the leading farming exports with the largest contribution to export revenues in the sector. 

The first eleven months of the year saw seafood exports up 6.9% from a year earlier to US$6.4 billion. 

The US, Japan, China and the Republic of Korea were the largest buyers of Vietnamese seafood with a combined market share of 54.1%. 

In the aftermath of the environmental incident affecting the four central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien–Hue, such results demonstrated the strenuous efforts of the entire sector.

Shrimp and catfish were the main seafood exports, with catfish expected to generate US$1.67 billion in all of 2016, up 6.6% from the previous year, and shrimp US$3.1 billion, a year-on-year rise of 5%.

Tran Van Pham, General Director of Soc Trang Seafood Company says there are plenty of opportunities for Vietnamese seafood, but what is concerning is quality and food safety, adding that if this stage is properly handled, revenues can exceed US$7 billion a year.

While fruit exports saw a phenomenal boom and seafood surpassed the target, rice was experiencing an unstoppable slowdown. 

The grain’s export volume in the eleven months through November was estimated at US$4.54 billion, earning US$2 billion, meaning reductions of 25% and 20.3% in volume and value respectively, despite the fact that average rice export prices in the first ten months of 2016 rose 5.6% over the same period of last year.

Shipments to China remained the largest, but exports to established markets such as the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore fell sharply between 34.1% and 61.6%. 

The Vietnam Food Association (VFA) attributed this contraction to the considerable success of the governments in those countries in implementing policies of autarchy in agriculture, meaning shrinking rice imports. 

In addition, Vietnam’s rice exports to the US fell by 28.3% because many shipments were returned, as Vietnam’s rice failed to meet the market’s strict requirements.