The General Statistics Office (GSO) said Vietnam’s export value in January 2012 was down more than 30 percent from the previous month, and lower than the same month in 2011. A lot of difficulties in product, quality and market have turned up, causing much concern for Vietnamese businesses.
At the Commercial Counsellors Conference held in Ho Chi Minh City in late 2011, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien anticipated that world economies remained uncertain in 2012 because of debt crisis in eurozone and public debt in the United States. These will be the challenges to trade promotion and market-seeking activities of Vietnamese enterprises in 2012. By the end of January 2012, Vietnam’s exports valued just US$6.3 billion. It was noted that values slid in most export products, particularly key items like rice, rubber, apparel and seafood. The export value of agricultural, forest and aquatic products was down 16.3 percent year on year to just US$1.8 billion. Specifically, agricultural products fetched nearly US$1.1 billion, down 19 percent; aquatic products raked in US$370 million, down 13.3 percent; and forest products generated US$300 million, down 18.2 percent.
2012 is predicted to be a difficult year full of uncertainties. Rice exporters faced hardships from the start of the year. They shipped 400,000 tonnes worth US$240 million in January, down 25.4 percent in volume and 14.2 percent in value over the same period of 2011. They could not sign many export contracts because Vietnamese rice prices were higher than those in other exporting countries like India and Pakistan. They concluded contracts to export 850,000 tonnes, not lower than previous years, but the delivery was longer. Besides, they encountered competition from exporters of low-grade rice. Major consumers of this rice are Asia and Africa, which consume up to 90 percent of Vietnam's exported rice. And, with low-priced rice from India and Pakistan, Vietnam may face the loss of 20 percent of market share in Africa. Vietnam is forecast to ship 6.5 - 7.2 million tonnes of rice in 2012, lower than the forecast in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Coffee exporters are also in the same dismal situation because of European economic problems. In January, they sent abroad 170,000 tonnes of coffee worth US$350 million, down 20.9 percent in volume and 15.3 percent in value against the same period of 2011. Coffee futures also tend to decrease because of oversupply. Rubber export also slumped in volume and value since China had stopped importing the commodity. Vietnam shipped 60,000 tonnes of rubber in January, down more than 19 percent in volume and nearly 39 percent in value year on year. Exporters of apparels and footwear are reportedly lacking orders. This is a tough difficulty for Vietnamese exporters.
In addition, many markets significantly reduced imports from Vietnam. Specifically, exports to Asian markets dipped 10.5 percent, to Europe down 13.6 percent, to the Americas down 10.8 percent, and to Africa down 14.8 percent. Several traditional markets of Vietnam like Japan, China and the EU also restricted imports from Vietnam.
The main reasons for the slump in export were attributed to long Lunar New Year holidays and lower prices. In reality, exporting activities were carried in just 20 days in January. Worse, some European countries tightened spending and reduced imports.
Market fluctuations are sending tra/basa fish growers to dilemma. Besides, higher feed prices, tightened credit policies and foreign exchange volatility adversely impacted exportation in January 2012. Fish feed prices rose 16 percent - 30 percent but the quality decreased. Fish medicine prices also gained by 10 percent - 20 percent compared to 2010,. As a result, production costs jumped. Tra fish export is forecast to face numerous difficulties this year.
This circumstance has forced exporters to be more active and quicker to access markets and seize opportunities. Trade promotion need to be stepped up. The immediate task for Vietnamese exporters is to keep traditional markets, particularly the Philippines, China, the US and the EU. According to experts, Vietnam needs to focus on exporting high-quality rice because it has higher margin and more stable markets.
Thu Ha
Vietnamese
