The import value of agricultural products in the first nine months of this year saw a year-on-year rise of 10 percent to 13.6 billion USD, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Importers of cashew, fertiliser products and animal food have had a particularly successful year so far.

Raw cashew imports recorded a year-on-year surge of 78.1 percent in volume to 495,000 tonnes and 67 percent in value to 466 million USD, including 37,000 tonnes in September, worth 66 million USD.

During the first nine months of this year, the imports of animal food products experienced year-on-year growth of 39 percent in value to 2.42 billion USD from Argentina , India and the US .

The increase in animal food imports was due to rising demand on the local market, where the domestic production of those products is still confronted with many limitations, the ministry said.

In the first nine months of this year, Vietnam imported 1.33 million tonnes of corn worth 431 million USD, an increase of 2.7 percent in volume and 8.7 percent in value against the same period last year.

However, imports of some farming products saw reductions, including wheat, seafood and soybeans. The import volume fell 45 percent for wheat, 3.1 percent for seafood and 0.7 percent for soybeans year-on-year.-VNA