Despite suffering a year-on-year decrease of 11.1% in the first five months of 2023, agro-forestry-aquatic product exports are expected to rebound in the remaining months of this year thanks to recovery momentum in main export markets, insiders said.

The total import and export value of agro-forestry-aquatic products in the first five months of this year was estimated to reach 36.96 billion USD, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

Vietnam earned 20.26 billion USD from agro-forestry-aquatic product exports between January and May, down 11.1% year-on-year. The decrease in the revenue was attributable to a sharp decline in orders, resulting in falling export value.

The agricultural sector posted a trade surplus of 3.55 billion USD in the reviewed period, a yearly decrease of 21.1%. 

Last year, the country earned 11 billion USD from aquatic product exports but it recorded 3.37 billion USD in the first five months of 2023, down 28.7% compared with the corresponding period of 2022.

Most of Vietnam’s aquatic export items suffered a two-digit decline, including shrimp (nearly 36%), tra fish (40%) and tuna (30%).

The wood industry is also in the same situation. After enjoying high growth for many years, the export turnover of wood and wood products reached 5 billion USD between January and May, a year-on-year decline of nearly 30%.

Vietnam targets to rake in 55 billion USD from agro-forestry-fishery exports this year, up 3% against last year’s figure. To this end, the agricultural sector has strived to get more orders from US and European markets as well as exploited free trade agreements to accelerate exports.

Despite difficulties as the demand has decreased globally, positive signs of recovery were seen in Vietnam’s major agricultural export markets such as China, Japan and Asia.

High expectations are placed on rice and vegetables and fruits as many localities are entering high season for harvesting such fruits as durian, lychee and jackfruit.

Nguyen Dinh Tung, Chairman of Vina T&T group, said that his group regularly exports mangos, durians and dragon fruits to US, European and Chinese markets.

According to the MARD, fruits and vegetables brought home 600 million USD from exports in May, bringing the five-month figure to 1.97 billion USD, up 39% annually.

The total export turnover of fruits and vegetables this year is expected to hit 4.5 billion USD, surpassing 3.34 billion USD of last year.

The export of Vietnamese durian is expected to continue to soar, reaching 1 billion USD this year due to strong increases in China’s purchase.

Rice export also saw positive results as the country shipped abroad nearly 4 million tonnes of rice in the first five months of this year, earning more than 2 billion USD, up 40.8% in quantity compared with the same period last year.

Vietnam is forecast to export about 7 million tonnes of rice worth 4 billion USD in 2023.

VNA