Agriculture industry aims for US$40 billion export target
Thursday, February 22,2018AsemconnectVietnam - Agroforestry and seafood exports set a new trade record of US$36.37 billion in 2017, a rise of more than US$4 billion over the previous year and setting new milestones in the process, however, last year also brought losses in the pig-farming industry and the EU’s issuance of a yellow card to Vietnamese seafood.
Nguyen Huu Dat, Secretary General of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, says that following the momentum of growth in recent years, fruit and vegetables have spearheaded the rise in exports of agricultural products, surpassing even the traditional strongholds of rice and oil and gas.
Almost a year ago, shipments of cashew nuts were forecast to grow beyond the US$3 billion mark for the first time in 2017. In reality, they outperformed expectations by swelling to US$3.52 billion, with 353,000 tonnes of the nuts exported by the end of 2017, a rise of 23.8% in value and 1.9% in volume. The average price of raw cashews increased by 22.3% against the previous year.
The US, Netherlands, and China remained the three largest consumers of Vietnamese cashew nuts with market shares of 35%, 15.6%, and 12.9%, respectively.
The past decade has seen Vietnam edge ever closer to establishing itself as the world’s main cashew processing hub with the country leapfrogging India to become the primary cashew nut processor. Vietnam now processes 1.6-1.7 million tonnes out of the total global volume of 3.4 million tonnes of raw cashews every year. It holds the advantage of specialization when it comes to producing the most delicious cashew nuts in the world. Recently, many countries have imported advanced processing machines and technologies from Vietnam but processing factories in Africa have been unable to reproduce the quality and efficiency of Vietnam’s products.
The forestry and seafood sectors made astonishing progress after setting new records by both reaching US$8 billion in export value.. Forestry exports grew 9.1% to US$8 billion with the three largest consumers being the US, China, and Correspondingly, seafood exports surged up by 18% to US$8.32 billion with the four biggest importers being the US, Japan, China, and the ROK accounting for 55.3% of total export value.
Last year also provided a rebound for many agricultural products such as rice, coffee, rubber, cassava, and tea, however, they did not rally to the record levels they set several years ago. Conversely, last year saw the pig-farming industry wallow into crisis and a decline in the pepper and coffee sectors. Pepper exports rose by 20.5% to a volume of 214,000 tonnes but shrunk 21.9% in value to US$1.12 billion while coffee exports slumped, falling 20.2% in volume to 1.42 million tonnes and 3.8% in value to US$3.12 billion with the two biggest consumers- Germany and the US.
Vietnam has so far exported nearly 200 different farm products abroad.
Most of the pork products were exported to China via unofficial channels. In 2016, nearly 12 million pigs were sold to China via such unofficial channels but in 2017 the channel was blocked, plunging the pig-farming industry into crisis. As a result, supply exceeded demand and prices tumbled, subjecting farmers to more than eighteen months of continual setbacks.
In another unfavourable move, on October 23, 2017 the European Commission (EC) issued a "yellow card" warning to Vietnam, after the country failed to demonstrate sufficient progress in its fight against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing worldwide. At present, seafood exports are proceeding as usual. But a yellow card could result in 100% of shipments from Vietnam to the EU undergoing strict checks, driving up the costs of storage and inspections. It could also undermine the confidence of importers in other markets.
Hitting US$40 billion target this year
It is imperative to fine-tune its management institutions, oversee fishing fleets in sustainably exploiting aquaculture resources, revamp the system to monitor and supervise fishing vessels at sea and in ports, certify the origin of seafood materials, and eliminate illegal fishing in foreign waters. The Law on Fisheries which has come into effect must be swiftly put into practise in order to ensure that fishing activities are in line with EU and international regulations.
At the MARD’s review conference for 2017, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc called for greater efforts to elevate agricultural exports target to US$40 billion this year. If weaknesses are remedied and advantages are fully exploited, the target will be achievable, he said.
Coffee exports reached 1.2 million tonnes in first 8 months of 2023
FDI in Vietnam totaled over 18 billion USD in first 8 months of 2023
Vietnam’s exports and imports of goods increased in August
Textile, garment exports to Canada to likely reach US$2 billion
Niche markets, opportunities for textile, garment exports
Over 416 million USD invested abroad in 8 months
Infrastructure projects help attract industrial investments to Mekong Delta: Savills Vietnam
Reference exchange rate down 1 VND
Export of agro-forestry-aquatic products down 9.5% in eight months
Vietnam’s coconut export to reach 1 billion USD in 2025: insider
Vietnam’s seafood exports and imports in first 7 months of 2023
Vietnam - Singapore's 11th largest trading partner
Major export commodity groups to South Korea in first 7 months of 2023
10 commodity groups with export turnover decreased by more than 500 million USD in 7 months
Plan on implementing national strategy on climate change ...
Actively and effectively adapting, reducing vulnerability, loss and damage due to climate change; reduce greenhouse gas emissions ...Scheme on attracting, restructuring and improving quality ...
Urban development plan of Binh Phuoc province in a period ...
Plan on implementing Decision No. 327/QD-TTG dated March ...
Hung Kings Temple Festival 2023 kicks off
The Hung Kings Temple Festival 2023 and the Culture and Tourism Week of Ancestral Land 2023 kicked off in the northern province of Phu Tho ...Vietnam trounce Palestine at AFC U-17 Women's Asian ...
Phu Tho: Festival honours UNESCO intangible cultural ...
Saigontourist Group Food and Culture Festival 2023 opens
Vietnam’s top swimmer Huy Hoang to hold Vietnamese flag at ...