Vietnam’s natural rubber exports in the first five months of this year reached a volume of 330,000 tonnes worth 475 million USD, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The figure increased 30.1 percent in volume and decreased 2.9 percent in value compared to the same period last year.

In May alone, Vietnam exported 78,000 tonnes of rubber worth about 114 million USD.

In the first four months, China continued to be the largest importer of Vietnam’s rubber, accounting for 44.39 percent of the total export volume, followed by Malaysia and India.

Vietnam imported about 160,000 tonnes of rubber worth 273 million USD in the first five months, up 29.6 percent in volume and 9.8 percent in value compared to the same period of 2014.

In 2014, Vietnam exported more than 1 million tonnes of natural rubber, valued at 1.78 billion USD, down 0.7 percent in volume and 28.4 percent in value from 2013 due primarily to plunging prices.

The country maintained the third and fourth positions in the world in terms of natural rubber output and export value, respectively.-VNA