4M agri export turnover exceeds $10.8 billion

Turnover up 9.1% yoy, according to MARD.

Export turnover of agriculture, forestry, and fishery products in April were estimated at $2.9 billion, bringing the total export value in the first four months of the year to $10.8 billion, an increase of 9.1 per cent year-on-year, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The export value of major agricultural commodities was estimated at $5.8 billion, up 12 per cent year-on-year. Exports of aquatic products were valued at $2.1 billion, up 8.2 per cent, while key forestry products brought in $2.5 billion, up 12.1 per cent.

Rubber saw the strongest export growth. Despite a decline of 5.4 per cent in volume, value increased 66 per cent year-on-year.

Exports of rubber in April totaled 51,000 tons worth $100 million, for 301,000 tons and $611 million in the first four months.

Fruit and vegetables is a relatively new export sector but saw a sharp increase of 32.6 per cent in value year-on-year. Value in April reached $313 million, for $1 billion in the first four months.

Wood and wooden products has remained the largest contributor to total export turnover in the sector this year. Export value in April reached $594 million, for $2.4 billion in the first four months, up 12.7 per cent year-on-year.

Seafood products was the second largest contributor, with export turnover in the first four months of $2.1 billion, up 8.2 per cent year-on-year, after April exports brought in $604 million.

Other commodities in the sector continued to decline this year, such as rice, down 7.7 per cent in volume and 6.9 per cent in value year-on-year, and cassava, down 6.9 per cent in volume and 11 per cent in value.

Some items fell in volume but increased in value over the same period of 2016, such as coffee, down 5.4 per cent but up 19.2 per cent, tea, down 16.6 per cent but up 10.8 per cent, and cashew nuts, down 13.1 per cent but up 7 per cent.

by Quynh Nguyen / VIR