Just in mid-October, the agricultural sector gained 55 billion USD from agricultural product exports, in which many commodity groups set records. Enterprises are busy preparing for export shipments at the end of the year.
DO THINGS THAT HAVE NEVER DONE BEFORE
Nearly one month after the official export of Vietnam’s first 100-tonne durian batch to China under the Protocol signed between the two countries in July, trucks full of this specialty fruit continue to follow each other on their way to the market of 1.5 billion people.
Up to now, according to the estimation of the Plant Protection Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), about 10,000 tonnes of durian have been officially exported to China, marking the first successful step in entering the world’s largest durian market. It’s worth mentioning that Vietnamese durian can compete in both price and quality with Thai durian.
Enterprises said that they continuously receive large orders from Chinese importers. For example, Van Xuan Phat Import-Export Co., Ltd. will export 1,000 tonnes each month to China following their partners’ orders.
Dung Thai Son Import-Export Trading Joint Stock Company – also revealed that they received an order of 500,000 tonnes of durian. Therefore, from now until the end of the year, the enterprise tries to complete the growth of 3,000-5,000 ha of durian, increasing the quantity supplied to this potential market.
Catfish exports set a record, collecting the most money in history (Photo: Minh Dung).
Sharing the same joy, Vietnamese rice has been recently also marked by the first time fried rice using rice ST25 from Vietnam became a “special lunch” at the Japanese Cabinet Office. Meanwhile, in Europe, the brand “Vietnamese rice” is available on the shelves of 4,000 supermarkets in France.
Having obtained the confirmation of quality in the most demanding markets in the world, in recent days, rice exporters have been busy preparing for year-end orders with skyrocketing selling prices. Thereby showing that, instead of being sold only at supermarkets and small retail stores of Asian origin in Europe, Vietnamese rice has officially set foot in large distribution systems in high-end markets.
Mr. Nguyen Thai Binh, General Director of Trung An High-tech Agriculture Joint Stock Company, said that the European market is very interested in high-quality rice from Vietnam. His business received many large orders, but the supply was not enough, so he had to refuse.
“The export price of rice to the European market is very high, from 700-1,250 USD/tonne. We export about 30 containers of rice every month to this market,” he said. Trung An is focusing on preparing for export shipments at the end of the year.
Seafood exporters are also entering the “golden season” of the year when the demand for seafood products from markets increases to serve the festival and Tet seasons.
A company in the seafood industry shared that this year, due to inflation, orders are not as rushed as in the same period in 2021. But at this time, their processing plants also have to operate at full capacity to timely complete year-end orders. Because, demand for seafood products from key markets such as the US, Japan, EU, etc… will increase sharply from October to serve the festive season.
MANY NEW RECORDS ARE SET
The report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shows that, in the first 9 months of 2022, the export turnover of the whole agricultural sector reached 40.8 billion USD, up 15.2% over the same period last year. Seven products and product groups have an export value of over 2 billion USD. Most key export commodity groups recorded double-digit growth.
In the past 9 months, many products have achieved higher export value than in the same period last year, setting new records such as coffee nearly 3.1 billion USD, up 37.6%; rice over 2.6 billion USD, up 9.3%; cassava and cassava products 1 billion USD, up 21%; catfish nearly reached the 2 billion USD mark, up 83.3% – a historical record; shrimp nearly 3.5 billion USD, up 24.8%, wood and wood products over 12.4 billion USD, up 11.4%… Especially, the fertilizer export of all kinds reached 900 million USD, a sudden increase of 170.4% over the same period.
Some products recorded a sharp increase in the average export price. Specifically, fertilizers of all kinds 635 USD/tonne, up 82.3%; pepper 4,403 USD/tonne, coffee 2,280 USD/tonne with an increase of 30.4% and 21.7% respectively…
Vietnamese durian successfully entered the Chinese market by official route. (Photo: Tam An)
Commenting on the export market in the last months of the year, according to Mr. Truong Dinh Hoe, General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, the export of this sector has recorded many positive signals from the main markets. Since September, the supply of raw materials has not been subject to major fluctuations due to the positive impact of lower gasoline prices. Demand increases again when importers solve the inventory problems…
“Hopefully by the end of this year, the Chinese market will reopen after the Zero-Covid policy. Then, exports will stabilize and develop well for 2023,” he said.
Regarding the impacts of inflation on seafood consumption in many markets, Mr. Hoe said that catfish will have an advantage because it is an affordable seafood product for consumers.
Despite many challenges, Mr. Hoe affirmed that seafood exports will earn 10 billion USD – a record level. Even by the end of November, we can reach this milestone. Particularly, catfish exports are expected to earn 2.5-2.6 billion USD.
For the rice sector, India’s move to ban the export of broken rice and impose an export tax of 20% on many types of rice has made the world rice market fluctuate strongly, including Vietnam. Vietnam’s 5% broken rice exports increased by about 30 USD/tonne, while 25% broken rice increased by 25 USD/tonne. Notably, due to a shortage of supply from India, many Chinese enterprises have turned to look for Vietnamese broken rice to serve the demand from now until Tet.
Mr. Phung Duc Tien, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, affirmed that if there is no sudden change and the fields maintain the production speed as in the past 9 months, the total export turnover of the agricultural sector could set a record of 55 billion USD in this year, exceeding the target assigned by the Government.
He pointed out that Vietnamese agricultural products for export have many advantages. The USD price continuously increases, and exporters will be supported by the fact that Vietnamese goods will be cheaper in the international market. In addition, the demand for food in Western countries always increases in the last 3 months of the year. The European and American markets at the peak of the festival season have helped the agricultural sector grow “hot” at the end of 2021.
The good thing is, we have been proactive and flexible both in the structure of export products and in directing the production and opening the market, Mr. Tien emphasized.
However, Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien said that inflation forced consumers to save more, making the market share at the risk of narrowing and the inventories increasing; the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has not shown any signs of settling down… Therefore, businesses need to anticipate the difficult situation to take appropriate measures.