Vietnam’s agro-forestry-aquatic product export and import turnover stood at an estimated US$22.6 billion in the first quarter of the year, up 6.3% compared to the same period from last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
In terms of the figure, approximately US$12.8 billion was in exports, a rise of 15.3%, while roughly US$9.8 billion was from imports, a drop of 3.5% against last year, thereby leading to a trade surplus of approximately US$3 billion, up 3.1 times on-year.
March alone saw the export value hit over US$4.7 million, an increase of 6% from the previous month and up 47.1% on-year.
Between January and March, exports of major farm produce reached close to US$5.5 billion, an increase of 12.8%, while that of major forestry products reached roughly US$4.3 billion, up 4.4%, and aquatic products hit close to US$2.4 billion, marking a rise of 38.7%.
Products enjoying a climb in export revenue included coffee, rubber, rice, pepper cassava and cassava products, shrimp, tra fish, wood and wooden furniture. Meanwhile, a downturn could be seen in the export value of tea and cashew nuts with falls of 12% and 5%.
Throughout this period, Asia remained the largest market for Vietnamese agro-forestry-fishery products with 40.3% of the market share, followed by North America and Europe with 29.5% and 13.1%, respectively.
The United States made up the biggest consumer of these products with over US$3.5 billion, followed by China in second with nearly US$2.1 billion, whilst Japan ranked third with approximately US$872 billion.
In order to expand export markets, the MARD will regularly provide information on prices, output, production, and the supply of agricultural products, as well as suggesting solutions aimed at dealing with the backlog of farm produce at border gates.
