Agricultures, Foods, News & Event
Agricultural products have high export value and the problem of maintaining the growth momentum
Since the beginning of the year until now, many agricultural products have continuously recorded new records in export, with figures worth billions of dollars.
3 agricultural products achieved the highest export value
According to Customs magazine, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the eight months of 2023, the total export and import turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products is estimated at 59.69 billion USD.
Of which, exports were 33.21 billion USD, imports were 26.48 billion USD, trade surplus was 6.73 billion USD, an increase of 6.4%. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that the trade surplus of agriculture accounts for a relatively high proportion of the trade surplus of the whole economy.
In 2022, the agricultural sector’s trade surplus will reach 8.76 billion USD, accounting for 77.41%, this is a source of foreign currency to buy industrialized and modernized equipment. This year, the agricultural sector strives for agricultural, forestry and fishery export turnover to reach 54 – 55 billion USD, and at the same time have a relatively good trade surplus to contribute to the industrialization and modernization of the country and the agricultural sector in particular.
Notably, Vietnam currently has 4 export agricultural products with a turnover of 1 billion USD or more with a value of 11.89 billion USD. The total export turnover of these 4 items accounts for 88% of Vietnam’s agricultural export turnover.
Among them, there are 3 agricultural products with the highest export value in 10 years, including vegetables, coffee and rice. Specifically, fruit and vegetable products reached 3.49 billion USD, an increase of 59.3% over the same period last year and 4.99 times higher than in 2013 (reaching 0.7 billion USD).
According to Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, in the remaining months of 2023, while the durian season in other Southeast Asian countries has ended, Vietnam still has durian areas in the Central Highlands that have not yet been harvested. exploitation, along with a number of other fruit products, it is predicted that fruit and vegetable exports in 2023 will reach about 5 billion USD.
Thus, the turnover will be equal to the planning forecast of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for 2025 – 2 years earlier than planned.
In addition to vegetables and fruits, by the end of August, rice exports also reached 5.85 million tons and 3.17 billion USD, up 22% in volume and 36.1% in value compared to the same period in 2022.
The average export price of rice in the first 8 months of 2023 is estimated to reach 542 USD/ton, an increase of 11.5% over the same period in 2022. This is a record that the rice industry has achieved in terms of output, value and export unit price. exports thanks to this year’s global food fever and Vietnam has taken advantage.
The rice market is expected to increase in volatility as Indonesia has just announced the opening of bids for 300,000 tons of 5% broken white rice from countries: Vietnam, Thailand, Pakistan and Cambodia. Thus, for the first time, Vietnam’s rice exports reached 5 million tons and 3 billion USD in just 8 months.
If the current growth momentum continues, in 2023 Vietnam will definitely exceed the milestone of 3.4 billion USD in rice export turnover in 2022 (the highest milestone in the past 10 years) and it is expected that the export volume will increase. surpassing the 7.1 million tons mark of 2022.
Compared to vegetables, fruits and rice, the growth rate of coffee is somewhat lower. Vietnam’s cumulative coffee exports in the first 8 months of 2023 are estimated at about 1.2 million tons, down 4.9% compared to the total amount of coffee exported in the same period last year.
Although the quantity has weakened, the price of exported coffee, especially Robusta coffee – Vietnam’s main coffee type, has recorded strong growth in recent times.
According to the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association, coffee prices are continuously increasing due to insufficient supply and demand. This year’s coffee output is forecast to decrease by 10-15%/year due to unfavorable weather. From now until the end of the year, coffee exports will still be favorable as demand increases while supply has not improved. Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association Do Ha Nam forecasts that coffee exports for the whole year will reach about 1,718 million tons, with an export turnover of 4.2 billion USD, the highest ever.
Maintain growth momentum for agricultural products
Agricultural products and food have had a breakthrough in recent years despite general difficulties as well as unpredictable fluctuations in the world market and supply chain chaos. In 2023, Vietnam’s export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products is forecast to still exceed 50 billion USD. Vietnam is currently the world’s top 3 supplier of coffee and rice, and the first largest supplier of cashew nuts and pepper…
In particular, in 2022, many Vietnamese agricultural products such as fresh bananas, sweet potatoes, bird’s nest, grapefruit, longan, passion fruit, durian… will be licensed to export to developed markets with high standards. around the world such as America, Japan, China, New Zealand. This creates great opportunities for fruit export.
In addition, Mr. Le Thanh Hoa, Deputy Director of the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development, Director of SPS Vietnam, assessed that with Vietnam’s accession to the WTO, our country has completed all legal frameworks. , regulations related to quality management, food safety and phytosanitary, are important areas for international food and agricultural trade.
The completion of these frameworks has significantly improved competitiveness and expanded the market for Vietnamese agricultural products. In addition, the Government has issued many decrees to guide and encourage investment in agricultural production and processing and establishing supply chains from production to export. Thanks to that, supply chains will increase the price competitiveness of Vietnamese products.
In the coming time, to maintain the growth momentum for agricultural exports, Mr. Hoa said, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will continue to improve policies and legal frameworks to meet the requirements of the integration process. global import. Accordingly, resources will be prioritized for food safety management and supervision from production, harvesting to preservation and processing. Along with that, we will focus on connecting domestic and international consumption. Regulations, market analysis information and consumer preferences will be updated to develop products that meet standards.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is establishing raw material areas to support production and export in addition to improving logistics infrastructure in the agricultural supply chain to ensure food safety. There are also solutions to reduce post-harvest losses and improve the quality of agricultural products.
Many opportunities to promote agricultural exports
International integration opens up many opportunities to promote the export of key agricultural products thanks to tariff reductions such as rice, coffee, seafood, and vegetables. Vietnamese agricultural products have many opportunities to choose suitable markets and partners, and have more advantages in trade.
Besides, with advantages in agriculture and natural conditions, Vietnamese agricultural products have certain strengths to compete in the world market with exported agricultural products.
Firstly, the demand for food tends to increase sharply. In the context of the impact of global climate change, instability and fluctuations in world economics and politics, concerns about food security open up many opportunities in Vietnam’s agricultural exports. .
Vietnamese agricultural products are exported to many markets around the world, especially large markets such as the United States, the European Union (EU), China, Japan… With many advantages in producing products. Key agricultural products such as tropical fruits are typical for Vietnam’s climate and many products meet technical standards, meeting the needs of many markets, reserves are increasingly large and can be supplied to other markets. markets with high consumer demand like China. Many Vietnamese agricultural products hold leading positions in world exports such as coffee, rice, cashew nuts…
Second, Vietnam participates in new generation Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), which have many very strict commitments. First is the roadmap to reduce taxes to 0% for most export products, and at the same time there are many new regulations on rules of origin, technical standards, labor, and environment. New generation FTAs have a positive impact on trade and export activities through promoting trade flows, investment, and technology transfer.
As the EVFTA agreement took effect in August 2020, Vietnam’s key agricultural products exported to the EU have increased by more than 20% in recent years. New generation FTAs also contribute to stronger growth of Vietnamese exports. Vietnam’s export turnover with countries in the internal market has grown quite high.