Vietnam Disappointed at Low Tea, Peanut Exports

Tea and peanut may be weeded out from a list of Vietnam’s export staples since earnings from the two items were much lower than expected, according to the Ministry of Trade.

 

The ministry said it would add other items including manioc, electric transformers, steels, electric engines, and glass and chemical products to the list.

 

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 products 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 Vietnamese specialty tea is priced high 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.

 

In the first eight months of this year, the country reportedly fetched $68 million from shipping 65,000 tons of tea abroad, up 31.5 per cent and 33.8 per cent on-year, respectively.

 

Despite sharp rises in both value and volume, domestic tea exporters find it hard to fulfill target of $110 million set for the whole year in the next three months.

 

Peanut shipments from Vietnam, meanwhile, went down considerably in terms of both quantity and value in recent years due to thin domestic supply and low quality, caused by peanut area reduction and inappropriate cultivating techniques.

 

The country is estimated to have exported 15,000 tons worth $11 million between January and August this year, down 70.6 per cent on-year in volume and 65.7 per cent in value, respectively.

 

Farmers nationwide, as of late August, cultivated around 221,800 hectares of peanut for the 2006 crop, equaling to just 95.7 per cent of last year’s figure.

 

In 2005, Vietnam grew around 330,000 ha of peanut, producing an estimated output of 550,000-560,000 tons of product. Of the volume, 55,000 tons were exported, raking in $33 million.

 

In related news, Vietnam earned $4.8 billion from exporting some major agricultural and forestry products in the past eight months of this year with the major coming from shipments of such key products as rubber, coffee, rice, pepper, woodwork, and cashew rather than from those of peanut and tea.