VN’s agro-forestry-fishery exports estimated at US$8.8 billion for Q1

VGP – According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the total export value of the agricultural, forestry and fishery sector is estimated at US$8.8 billion in the year’s first quarter, a year-on-year fall of nearly 3%.

April 04, 2019 4:45 PM GMT+7

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Accordingly, agro-forestry-fishery exports in March were estimated at US$3.3 billion, bringing the total export value of the sector in the first three months of 2019 to US$8.8 billion, down 2.9% compared to the same period in 2018.

Major farm produce shipped overseas brought home US$4.2 billion, down 13.4%, of which some 1.43 million tons of rice were sold in foreign markets at a value of US$ 593 million, dropping 3.5% in volume and 20.2% in value.

Several items witnessed significant increases in export value in the first quarter including tea, with exports estimated at 26,000 tons, worth US$45 million, up 2.1% in volume and increasing 15.4% in value compared to the same period last year and rubber at nearly 350,000 tons, raking in US$461 million, up 32.8% in volume and 18.5% in value.

However, the ministry relished in the rosy prospects for rice shipments in the second quarter of the year, boosted by numerous orders to be implemented in the period.

For rice, the volume of this key commodity in the first three months of the year was estimated at 1.43 million tonnes, bringing in about US$593 million, down 3.5% in volume and 20.2% in value compared to the same period last year. Thanks to a strong increase in both volume and value, the Philippines is currently ranked first as Vietnam's top rice export market.

Although rice exports in Q1 have faced difficulties, the MARD forecasts that there will be new contracts in the second quarter as Viet Nam's rice is at competitive prices with other rice exporting countries. Therefore, there are a number of rice export contracts to be granted to Vietnamese businesses.

The U.S., India, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates were the biggest markets for Vietnamese pepper, together making up nearly 43% of the market share.

The value of agro-forestry and fishery imports during Jan-Mar reached US$7.25 billion, up 4.6% over the same period in 2018, adding to the US$1.55 billion surplus for the sector during the three-month period, MARD said.

By Vien Nhu