The Q1 figure included 4.6 billion USD coming from farm produce (up by 9 percent year on year), 1.7 billion USD from aquatic products (up 11.5 percent), and nearly 2 billion USD from forestry items (up 6.6 percent).

Up to 524,000 tonnes of rice were shipped abroad for 261 million USD in March, raising  the total rice export volume in January-March to 1.36 million tonnes for 669 million USD, representing rises of 9.4 percent in volume and 24 percent in value from the same January-March period in 2017.

China still remained the top importer of Vietnamese rice, accounting for 24.4 percent of the marker share. There was a surge in Vietnam’s export value from Iraq (5.7 times) and Malaysia (2.7 times).

In the three-month period, cashews were estimated to earn 739 million USD from 73,000 tonnes, showing surges of 43.6 percent and nearly 31 percent, respectively from the same period last year.

The US, China, and the Netherlands remained the three largest importers of Vietnam’s cashews.

Vegetables and fruits raked in 934 million USD, up over 33 percent from the same quarter in 2017.

The country’s other major farm produce, like coffee, rubber, and peppercorn, however, experienced a decline in export earnings.

Peppercorn, for example, faced a 37 percent drop in export value, bringing home only 203 million USD.

Rubber saw a decrease of nearly 21 percent in export value, earning 403 million USD for 272,000 tonnes (which is up by 8.9 percent).

Up to 520,000 tonnes of coffee were sold abroad for 1 billion USD, up by 15.1 percent in volume but down by 1.7 percent in value when compared with the same time last year.

In the three-month period, the country imported farm, forestry and fishery products worth 6.89 billion USD, up by 8.4 percent from the same period last year, the ministry said.