Processing cashew nuts for exports (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - The export of many agricultural products, especiallyindustrial crops such as pepper, rubber, tea, and cashew nuts, fell remarkably fromJanuary to July due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to theMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), the biggest fall was seenin the export of pepper.
In the first sevenmonths of this year, Vietnam shipped 187,000 tonnes of pepper abroad and earned405 million USD, down 6.5 percent and 20.6 percent, respectively, year-on-year.The latter decline was attributed to a fall of over 16 percent in the export price.
MARD’s FarmProduce Processing and Market Development Department has forecast that, in themonths to come, purchasing power in Europe and the US will continue to shrink amidthe second wave of COVID-19. Natural disasters in China - one of Vietnam’smajor pepper importers - will also affect demand for pepper imports in theshort term.
The department thereforeadvised exporters to choose appropriate solutions to minimise risks and limitproblems relating to international trade.
Similar to pepper,the export of rubber is also facing difficulties. During January-July, Vietnamearned 855 million USD from shipping 662,000 tonnes of rubber abroad,year-on-year decreases of 20.3 percent and 15.1 percent, respectively.
The rubber marketis predicted to see bright signs in the short term as Governments shift fromfocusing on the fight against COVID-19 to economic recovery. The reopening ofeconomies will boost demand and positively affect the rubber industry.
According to the Associationof Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC), the industry has overcome the worstperiod caused by the COVID-19 crisis and is showing signs of recovery. After fallsof 15 percent in May and 5.3 percent in June, global rubber consumption in thethird quarter is forecast to increase 1.4 percent against the same period of 2019and is estimated to enjoy an upward trend from July.
Vietnam posted arise of 10.4 percent in the volume of exported cashew nuts in the first sevenmonths but a reduction of 4 percent in value. It earned 1.72 billion USD fromexporting 265,000 tonnes. The average export price in the first six monthsreached 6,641 USD per tonne, down 13.1 percent year-on-year.
According to theFarm Produce Processing and Market Development Department, the export of cashewnuts will continue to fall in the third quarter as the price was quite low atthe end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third.
Exports are expected to rise in the fourth quarter as major importers such asthe US, India, the EU, and China normally increase imports for the year-endholidays.
The tea industrywas also hard hit, exporting 12,000 tonnes and earning 19 million USD, up 1.3percent in volume but down 8.7 percent in value year-on-year.
Slight decreasesin both volume and value were reported in the coffee sector. Vietnam shipped atotal of 1.06 million tonnes of beans to earn 1.8 billion USD, down 0.1 percentand 0.6 percent, respectively, year-on-year./.
VNA
