Vietnamese tea firms are estimated to ship abroad more than 41,000 tons of tea in the first six months of this year, raking in US$40 million, up 27.4 per cent in volume and 18 per cent in value, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The country already earned US$8 million from exporting eight million tons of tea in June, equivalent to figures of the same month of last year.
Currently, Vietnam is one of the world's top ten tea producers with tea products available in more than 60 countries across the world. Vietnam's tea exports primarily go to Pakistan, Taiwan, Russia, Germany, China, Indonesia, Poland, the United Arabic Emirates, the UK and the Netherlands.
However, only a small amount of specialty tea is sold at high price while other kinds of tea products are sold very cheaply and have to penetrate the world market by using the brand names of other countries.
The export prices of Vietnamese tea are currently standing at around US$980-1,000 per ton on average, representing on-year fall of 3.9 per cent.
In 2005, Vietnam exported about 88,000 tons of tea products, ranking seventh in the world after India, China, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Indonesia and Turkey.
The country is expected to produce 200,000 tons of tea by 2010, including 120,000 tons for export with earning of US$200 million by that time.
Dry tea buds are listed among the key export items in the national strategy of socio-economic development set by the MARD for the 2006-2010 period. Other key items include rice, coffee, dry rubber latex, cashew nuts and pepper.
Vietnam & World Economy
Vietnamese
