Vietnam is expected to gain US$200 million from tea export per annum between 2010 and 2015, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
To this end, the domestic tea industry plans to expand its total tea cultivation area to 150,000 hectares by the time, yielding out an annual estimated output of around 1.2-1.35 million tons of tea buds.
Of the total volume, 70 per cent will be earmarked for exports with more than half being black tea, the ministry said, adding that domestic market will consume the rest.
This year, the country is forecasted to export US$110 million worth of tea, US$10 million higher than last year's figure.
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.
Tea cultivation nationwide covered 125,000 ha last year, producing about 577,000 tons of tea.
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