AsemconnectVietnam - According to the figures of the General Department of Customs, Vietnam’s exports of fruits and vegetables in the first eight months of this year decreased slightly.

Meanwhile, the country’s imports of fruits and vegetables increased year – on –year.

Vietnam’s exports of fruits and vegetables totaled 2.55 billion USD in first eight months
In the first 8 months of 2019, Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable exports reached nearly 2.55 billion USD, down by 5.3 per cent over the same period of 2018.
According to the statistics figures of the General Department of Customs, fruits and vegetables export after a continuous decline in the recent 3 months (decreased by 23.1 per cent in May of 2019; by 21.8 per cent in June of 2019, and by 11.8 per cent in July of 2019), in August of 2019, the exports increased again by 9.2 per cent compared to July of 2019, reaching 269.92 million USD. However, compared to August of 2018, it still dropped sharply by 25.6 per cent.
Generally, in the first 8 months of 2019, the country's vegetable and fruit export turnover reached nearly 2.55 billion USD, down by 5.3 per cent over the same period of 2018.

Leading fruit and vegetable export markets in the first eight months of 2019
The Chinese market accounted for 68.8 per cent of Vietnam's total vegetable export turnover, reaching 1.75 billion USD, down by over 12 per cent over the same period of 2018. In August alone, the country’s exports of fruits and vegetables to this market increased by 10.8 per cent compared to July of 2019 but compared to August of 2018, it dropped sharply by 41.4 per cent.
In addition, vegetables and fruits of Vietnam also exported to some markets with relatively high turnover such as: EU - reached 102.31 million USD, accounting for 4 per cent, up strongly by 37.1 per cent. In August alone, the exports to the EU increased by 6.7 per cent compared to July of 2019 but increased sharply by 54.7 per cent compared to the same month of 2018.

The next was the US market with 15.62 million USD in August of 2019, up by 12.9 per cent compared to July of 2019 and up by 22 per cent compared to August of 2018; raising the total export turnover to this market in the first 8 months of 2019 to 99.57 million USD, up by 14.5 per cent over the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the country’s exports of fruits and vegetables to Southeast Asia market decreased by 4.1 per cent, reaching 95.03 million USD, accounting for 3.7 per cent of the total; and the exports to South Korea also increased by 14.2 per cent, reaching 87.86 million USD, accounting for 3.4 per cent.

In term of fruit and vegetable export growth in the first 8 months of this year compared to the same period in 2018, the majority of markets saw an increase in turnover; the exports to Indonesia increased by 271.2 per cent, reaching 1.93 million USD; to Laos - increased by 185.5 per cent, reaching 17.38 million USD; to Italy - increased by 160.7 per cent, reaching 9.02 million USD; to Hong Kong -increased by 158.3 per cent, reaching 35 million USD.

In contrast, the exports of vegetables and fruits plummeted in some markets such as Malaysia - down by 43.5 per cent, reaching 20.59 million USD; Cambodia - decreased by 13.6 per cent to 1.86 million USD; to the U.A.E - decreased by 14.4 per cent, reaching 22.94 million USD. The exports of fruits and vegetables sharply decreased due to a sharp decrease in export value of some main fruits and vegetables such as longan - down by 43%, durian – down by 20.2 per cent, coconut –down by 30.8 per cent, watermelon - down by 26.3 per cent, rambutan - decreased by 7.3 per cent, etc.

Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable exports in September 2019 was estimated at 295 million USD, bringing the export value in the first 9 months of 2019 to 2.84 billion USD, down by 4.3 per cent compared to the same period in 2018. In the opposite direction, it was estimated that fruit and vegetable imports in September of 2019 reached 115 million USD, bringing the total import value in the first 9 months of 2019 to nearly 1.4 billion USD, up by 6.8 per cent. In which, the exports of vegetable products was about 434 million USD, up by over 24 per cent and the exports of fruit products was 899 million USD, down by 2.6 per cent.
Thailand and China were the two largest fruit and vegetable import markets in the first 8 months of 2019, accounting for 35.5 per cent (down by 3.2 per cent) and 25.7 per cent (up by 19.8 per cent) respectively compared with the same period of 2018. They were followed by the US, Asutralia, New Zealand, increased by 72.7 per cent; 5 per cent and 44.4 per cent, respectively.

Vietnam’s imports of fruits and vegetables totaled 1.26 billion USD in eight months
In August of 2019, Vietnam imported 120.44 million USD worth of fruits and vegetables, down by 13.5 per cent compared to July of 2019. Generally, from the beginning of the year to the end of August of 2019, Vietnam imported 1.26 billion USD worth of fruits and vegetables, up by 11.1 per cent over the same period of 2018.
Vietnam imported fruits and vegetables mainly from Southeast Asian countries. The imports of fruits and vegetables from Thailand accounted for the largest proportion of 83.72 per cent with 428.8 million USD, But compared to the same period, the import speed from this market decreased by 16.73 per cent. In August alone, Vietnam imported 7.9 million USD worth of fruits and vegetables from Thailand, down by 40.38 per cent compared to July of 2019 and down by 92.17 per cent compared to August of 2018.

Leading fruit and vegetable import markets in the first eight months of 2019
The country’s imports of fruits and vegetables from the Chinese market in the first 8 months of this year reached only 309.9 million USD, up by 23.68 per cent over the same period last year. Particularly in August of 2019, the country’s imports of fruits and vegetables from China reached 37.97 million USD, down by 27.2 per cent compared to July of 2019 and down by 25.99 per cent compared to August of 2018.
The next were the US, Australia, and New Zealand. Remarkably, compared with the same period last year, the market of supplying vegetables and fruits to Vietnam during this time had more markets such as Laos, Cambodia and Canada, in which the imports of fruits and vegetables from Cambodia 31.72 million USD; from Laos - 7.96 million USD and Canada - 5.63 million USD.

In general, in the first 8 months of this year, the imports of vegetables and fruits from most markets increased, including the Israeli market with the largest increase of 100.99 per cent, though only reaching 2.99 million USD. In August of 2019, the imports from this market decreased by 68.97 per cent compared to July of 2019 and by 83.61 per cent compared to August of 2018 to 65,000 USD. Besides, Vietnam also increased imports of fruits and vegetables from Myanmar market, up by 97.79 per cent to 40.52 million USD; from Chile and Malaysia both increased by over 60 per cent.
In the opposite direction, Vietnam sharply reduced imports from Brazil by 17.74 per cent with only 3.1 million. Particularly in August of 2019, the imports of fruits and vegetables from Brazil increased sharply by 8.5 times compared to July 2019 (or 746.52 per cent) to 1.2 million USD and increased by 5.8 times (equivalent to 477.96 per cent) compared to August of 2018.
CK
Source: VITIC