Seafood production for export. (Photo: VNA)
Shipments of main farm produce, including coffee, rice, rubber, and tea experienced a downward trend in both value and volume.
In the first five months, around 2.4 million tonnes of rice were shipped abroad for 1.05 billion USD, down 11.4 percent in volume and 14.6 percent in value year on year. China remains the largest importer of Vietnamese rice, making up 33 percent of the market share though cutting its import volume by 28.11 percent.
Coffee continued to record a sharp fall in both volume and value. During January-May, Vietnam sold abroad 578,000 tonnes of coffee for USD1.2 billion, down 39.4 percent in volume and 38 percent in value from the same period last year.
While recording a rise in volume, rubber, however, faced a decline in value. During the reviewed period, 330,000 tonnes of rubber were traded, bringing home USD475 million, up 30 percent in volume but down 2.9 percent in value year on year.
Tea has not seen any improvements in export. The product earned USD70 million for 43,000 tonnes, down 0.6 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively, compared to the same period last year.
The exports of pepper and cashews were in the limelight with their upward trend. Vietnam pocketed USD667 million from pepper (up 2 percent) and USD828 million from cashews (27.3 percent).
The export turnover of forestry products reached USD2.69 billion, a rise of 7 percent while aquatic products accounted for USD2.41 billion, a fall of 17 percent from the same period of 2014.
The US remains Vietnam’s biggest aquatic importer, accounting for 19.5 percent of the total, but its imports declined sharply by 30 percent year on year.