The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam has reported that major agricultural, forestry and aquacultural export commodities in 2012 saw higher increases from 2011.
Statistics from the ministry showed that export turnover of the agriculture, forestry and aquaculture sector this year reached more than 27.5 billion USD, up 9.7% against 2011, while the import value of the sector posted USD16.94 billion in 2012. With these, the sector achieved a trade surplus of USD10.6 billion in the whole year.
Among agricultural commodities for export, seven commodities gained export turnover higher than 1 billion USD, including rice, coffee, rubber, wooden products, cashew, manioc and seafood.
Coffee was considered the commodity gaining the most impressive growth in both volume and value. In 2012, export coffee volume reached an estimated 1.76 million tonnes, valued at 3.74 billion USD, up 40.3% and 30.6%, respectively. The two largest consumers of Vietnamese coffee were the US, with 12.3% of the market, and Germany, with 11.77%. The most noticeable feature went to Indonesia, as the market saw sudden growth with a 5.6 fold increase in both volume and value against the previous year.
Tea continued to retain its moderate growth as exports of the commodity in December posted 14,000 tonnes, worth 22 million USD. The volume for the whole year was estimated at 148,000 tonnes, worth 227 million USD. These marked a 10.8% surge in volume and an 11.5% rise in value. The tea consumption situation was positive, as Pakistan continued to be the biggest importer of Vietnamese tea with a 19.8% market share. Growth was also seen in almost all major markets, except Russia and Germany.
For cashew, Vietnam continued to retain its position as the biggest exporter in the world. The country exported 223,000 tonnes overseas, earning a turnover of more than 1.48 billion USD, up 25.4% in volume and 0.7% in value from 2011. Major consumers of Vietnamese cashews continued to be the US, with a 27.7% market share, China with 19% and the Netherlands with 11.9%.
Together with a number of agricultural products, forestry and wooden products witnessed moderate growth. Export turnover of wood and wooden products in December reached 477 million USD, bringing the figure in 2012 to nearly 4.68 billion USD, up 18.5% from last year. Almost all big markets saw rapid growth, such as the US (up 27%), China (up 11%) and Japan (up 14.2%) from 2011.
Aquacultural products also contributed to the common success of agriculture, forestry and aquaculture exports. In 2012, Vietnam’s seafood export turnover reached 6.15 billion USD, up 0.7% from 2011. The US was still the leading import market of Vietnamese seafood, with 19.49% of the market, followed by Japan (17.87%) and the Republic of Korea (8.27%).
In brief, although the world and domestic economy still met difficulties in 2012, agriculture, forestry and aquaculture exports saw significant advancements, contributing to overcoming the difficulties of the economy as well as solving social welfares.