Exports of Major Agro-Forestry Products Hit US$4.8Bln in Jan-August

Vietnam earned US$4.8 billion from exporting some major agricultural and forestry products in the past eight months of this year, representing an on-year rise of 24.3 per cent, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

 

Of the sum, shipments of agricultural products fetched in $3.4 billion while the remainder came from forestry products, up 25 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively, against the same period last year.

 

The ministry also reported that the agro-forestry exports in August alone posted a rise of 10 per cent to around $640 million compared with the same month of last year, including $470 million from farm produce shipments.

 

Exports of a number of staples, excluding rice, witnessed sharp increases in both quantity and turnover. Of these, coffee rose by 7 per cent and 56 per cent respectively; rubber, 45 per cent and 121 per cent; tea, 46 per cent and 33.6 per cent; cashew nuts, 31.4 per cent and 9.5 per cent; and pepper, 36 per cent and 45 per cent.

 

Rice shipment, however, went down considerably in the period with on-year fall of 7.2 per cent in volume and 6.3 per cent in value due to dwindling export supply and strong domestic demand.

 

This year, Vietnam is expected to earn $5.6 billion from the export of these key agro-forestry products, according to the national strategy of socio-economic development set by the MARD for the 2006-2010 period.

 

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has said it will instruct its affiliates to help local enterprises advertise Vietnamese agricultural trademarks in the fourth quarter of this year, so as to increase the number of export contracts and fulfill the annual export targets.