Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’s agro-forestry-aquatic product exports reached an estimated 5.96 billion USD in October, up 6.3% year-on-year, bringing total export earnings in the first 10 months to 58.13 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 12.9%, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.
Of the total, agricultural products brought home 31.34 billion USD, up 15.5%; livestock products 512.9 million USD, up 19%; aquatic products 9.31 billion USD, up 12.9%; and forestry products 14.93 billion USD, up 5.8%.
Asia remained Vietnam’s largest export market, accounting for 44.7% of the total turnover, followed by the Americas with 22.7% and Europe with 13.8%. Africa and Oceania represented 3% and 1.4%, respectively.
During the 10-month period, the export value to Africa surged 83.6% from a year earlier while sales to Europe grew sharply by 37.5%, the Americas up 8.3%, Oceania up 6.8%, and Asia up 4.9%.
China, the US, and Japan were Vietnam’s top three buyers, accounting for 21.4%, 20.4%, and 7% of total exports, respectively. Shipments to China rose 12%, to the US 6.2%, and to Japan 20.4% compared to the same period last year.
The results reflected strong gains in export prices, particularly for key agricultural commodities such as coffee, cashew nuts, and pepper.
In particular, coffee exports reached 1.3 million tonnes worth 7.41 billion USD, up 13.5% in volume and 61.8% in value. Export prices increased 42.5% to 5,653 USD per tonne. Germany, Italy and Spain were the largest importers, with respective shares of 13.4%, 7.8% and 7.4%.
Cashew nut exports reached 624,400 tonnes worth 4.25 billion USD, up 2.2% in volume and 18.6% in value. The average export price rose 16.1% year-on-year to 6,806 USD per tonne. China, the US, and the Netherlands were the top three markets.
Although pepper shipments fell 5.9% in volume to 206,300 tonnes, the value rose 25.8% to 1.4 billion USD thanks to a 33.7% increase in the average export price to 6,774 USD per tonne over the period.
Fruits and vegetables also maintained strong growth, reaching 7.09 billion USD in 10 months, up 15.1%. China remained the largest buyer with 62.9% of total shipments, followed by the US (6.6%) and the Republic of Korea (3.9%).
In contrast, rice exports declined sharply. Average export prices dropped 18.5% year-on-year to 511 USD per tonne. The total volume was estimated at 7.2 million tonnes worth 3.7 billion USD, down 6.5% in volume and 23.8% in value, reflecting weak global demand, the ministry reported./.
