Illustrative image. (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The agriculture sector enjoyed a trade surplus of 8.8billion USD in the first 11 months of this year, 1.5 billion USD higher than the same period last year,according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The sectorearned 37.3 billion USD from the export of farm produce and forestry andaquatic products in the reviewed period, a year-on-year increase of 3.6percent. Meanwhile, 28.5 billion USD was spent on agro-forestry-fishery imports, down 0.7percent.
Seven itemswith export value exceeding 2 billion USD included coffee, rubber, rice, cashewnut, fruit, shrimp, wood and timber products.
China remainedthe largest buyer of Vietnamese agricultural products, accounting for 26.9percent of the total exports. It was followed by the US (21.9 percent), the EU(11.7 percent), ASEAN (10 percent) and Japan (8.8 percent).
Strong growthwas seen in shipments of rubber which totalled 2 billion USD, up 9.3 percentyear on year; tea, 216 million USD, 16 percent; wood and wood products, 9.6 billion USD, 19.5 percent;and cinnamon, 163 million USD, 31 percent.
Some keycommodities, however, suffered a drop in export value such as cashew nut (down1.8 percent to 3 billion USD),fruits (down 5.5 percent to 2.6 billion USD), rice (9.4 percent to 2.6 billion USD), coffee (23 percent to 2.5billion USD) and pepper (5.8percent).
The Ministryof Agriculture and Rural Development forecast that total agricultural exportrevenue for the entire year willbe likely to hit 41.3 billion USD with a trade surplus of about 9.5 – 10billion USD.
Last year,Vietnam’s export of agricultural products hit a record high of 40.2 billionUSD, making it the second largest agricultural exporter in Southeast Asia./.
VNA
