Vietnam’s total export turnover of agro-forestry-aquatic products in the first eight months of 2012 is estimated at more than 18.1 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 9.7 percent.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam is expected to earn 2.66 billion USD from exporting 1.26 million tonnes of coffee in the period, up 26.3 percent in value and 31.9 percent in volume against the corresponding period of last year. The country’s biggest coffee importers are the US and Germany .

Coffee exports to Indonesia and Mexico enjoyed a sudden jump of nearly 9 times and 3.5 times when compared to the same period last year. However, exports to Belgium, Vietnam’s biggest importer in 2011, experienced a strong decrease in both volume and value.

Rice exports in the period are expected to reach 5.5 million tonnes, with a value of 2.48 billion USD, up 0.5 percent in volume but down 8.5 percent in value from last year’s period. China became the biggest rice importer of Vietnam while many large markets like the Philippines , Indonesia and Singapore saw a reduction in rice imports from Vietnam in both volume and value.

In the reviewed period, rubber exports increased in many large markets. However, because of low price, its value didn’t increase strongly compared with the previous year’s figure. The country is expected to pocket 1.78 billion USD from exporting 595 kilotonnes of rubber, up 29.1 percent in value and 34.5 percent in volume.

Tea export in the first eight months of 2012 also enjoyed a growth in large markets. Pakistan remained Vietnam’s biggest tea consumer, with 16.5 percent of total market share. Tea exports are estimated at 92 kilotonnes, worth 140 million USD, a year-on-year increase of 9.6 percent in volume and 9.2 percent in value.

The ministry said the export of forestry products in August is likely to reach 435 million USD, raising the total export turnover of this sector in the first eight months of this year to 3.15 billion USD, up 19.8 percent against the same period last year.

The export turnover of wood and wooden products enjoyed a year-on-year increase of 20.7 percent, with an estimate value of nearly 3 billion USD. Strong growth can be seen in big markets, including the US (up 31.7 percent), China (24.4 percent) and Japan (19.8 percent).

In the period, fisheries export value is likely to reach 4 billion USD, up 6.4 percent against the corresponding period of 2011. The US remains Vietnam’s biggest consumer of aquatic products, accounting for 19.8 percent of market share, followed by Japan (17.5 percent) and the Republic of Korea (8.2 percent).

This sector’s exports are expected to increase in the time to come due to the growing demand from importers in Europe and America.-VNA