AsemconnectVietnam - Vietnamese coconuts have an important position in the world, with an area of over 188 thousand hectares.

Vietnam’s coconut growing area accounts for 1.67% of the world’s area and 2.07% of the Asian coconut area. The growth rate of Vietnam’s coconut growing area is quite high. In 2010, Vietnam’s coconut area ranked 6th in the world, by 2021, Vietnam’s coconut area ranked 5th in the world.
Ben Tre is still considered the coconut capital of the country. According to the general report, in 2022, Ben Tre will have a total area of more than 78,000 hectares of coconut cultivation, of which the area of coconut fruiting will be more than 71,400 hectares. In this area, every year Ben Tre provides about 688 million coconuts for the whole country.
With their nutritional values, fresh coconuts are very popular in Western countries. About 389,530 farming households earn income from coconuts. Coconuts create export value, and coconut products have reached over 900 million USD. Vietnam’s coconut industry is ranked 4th in total value in the world coconut market. In 2023, Vietnam is expected to strive to export coconut and coconut products to the tune of over 1 billion USD.
Vietnamese coconut growers and businesses are excited to expand production to meet the domestic and foreign demand which is expected to increase in the coming time as the US officially opened its market for Vietnam's fresh coconut in August this year, and China is considering to allowing official coconut import.
Bui Duong Thuat, Director of the Mekong Fruit Export Ltd.Co in Chau Thanh district, the southern province of Ben Tre, said that the US market is the second-biggest coconut importer in the world, just after China as it imports approximately 2,000 containers of fresh coconut yearly.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese companies export between 110 and 120 containers of fresh coconuts to the US a year. Therefore, there remains room for Vietnamese coconut in the market.
Moreover, the General Administration of Customs of China is inspecting cultivation areas to endorse a protocol authorising the official import of Vietnamese fresh coconut to the market of over 1 billion people, Thuat said, hoping that Vietnam's fresh coconut will be exported to China soon.
To seize the opportunity, he said his company planned to cooperate with coconut farmers in Ben Tre province to develop a 100-ha organic material area.
Vietnam’s coconut export are expected to reach 1 billion USD in 2025 after the US and China agree to allow Vietnamese coconuts to enter the two markets, according to President of the Vietnam Coconut Association Nguyen Thi Kim Thanh.
As the US is about to open the market for Vietnamese coconuts and China allows official coconut import, local businesses are trying to develop raw material areas, apply for growing areas codes, and register to build organic material zones to meet the needs of the world market, the official said.
“At the end of 2022, coconut export turnover was over 700 million USD. But based on the momentum of the US and China agreeing to import Vietnamese coconuts, around the end of 2024 and early 2025, coconut export turnover will be up to 1 billion USD," Thanh said.
In the past, there were not any plans for coconut areas. However, in 2021, the fruit was listed as one of Vietnam’s key industrial crops, especially in the context of climate change.
According to Thanh, about 20 large enterprises in the country have exported coconuts to the world. Up to 35 countries and territories are Vietnam’s importers.
T.Huong
Source: Vitic