Processing cashew nuts for exports (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Exports of many agricultural products continued todecline sharply in January due to a shortage of empty containers.
According to the General Department of Customs, in the first half of January, Vietnam’scoffee exports decreased by 46 percent in volume and nearly 43 percent in valueto 52,000 tonnes and 95 million USD, respectively, compared to the same periodof 2020.
Rice exports also fell sharply by 44 percent in volume to 131,000 tonnes and 38percent in value to 72 million USD.
Fruit and vegetable exports reached 130 million USD, 33 percent lower than thesame period of last year.
The general department said some other farming products also saw a strongreduction in export value during that period, including tea (22 percent to 6.6million USD), pepper (10 percent to 21 million USD) and seafood (14 percent to 278million USD).
The reduction in exports of those key agricultural products was mainly due to asevere shortage of empty containers. Therefore, agricultural products exportedin January had very high shipping costs.
According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers(VASEP), seafood businesses said that in January, the freight to Europecontinued to increase strongly by between 145-276 percent, depending on theport.
Specifically, this freight at the main ports surged by 145 percent to 7,000 USDper container in January 2021 from 2,850 USD in December 2020. Some firms increasedthe freight from 2,800 USD per container to 10,550 USD.
The same situation happened at US ports. The freight in January increased by 14percent to $4,000 per container for shipping goods to the West coast and by14-19 percent to $5,600-5,850 per container to the East coast. It alsoincreased from $50-100 per container to Japan’s ports.
Do Ha Nam, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Cocoa and Coffee Association, said theshortage of empty containers to transport coffee has led to stagnantexports at many countries and lower supply in consumption markets.
The Vietnam Pepper Association’s survey in January 2021 for some pepper agentsand cooperatives in Dong Nai province showed that pepper inventory is stilllarge, excluding the volume that has been sold but not yet shipped. That wasdue to high freight and the shortage of empty containers.
According to domestic and international logistics experts, the serious shortageof empty containers will last at least until the end of the first quarter thisyear, reported the Nong thon Ngay Nay (CountrysideToday) newspaper.
In the long term, Vietnam should have a strategy to reduce dependence oninternational shipping companies as present, including a solution encouraginginvestment in the development of container shipping fleets and plants producingcontainers, they said.
One of the most important solutions at present is to free up containers ofimported goods and to move the containers in the most reasonable and fastmanner to have more containers for shipping export goods.
Nguyen Duy Hong, deputy general director of the Smartlogs Supply Chain SolutionCorporation, said there are about 300,000 20-feet empty containers circulatedamong seaports in Vietnam each year.
The circulation is ineffective because empty containers are often sent to majorports before moving to secondary ports for exporters, he said.
If it is organised properly, many containers will be used to transport exportgoods quickly, Hong said. For example, the technology process willoptimise the use of containers by moving empty containers from importersdirectly to exporters and to flexible locations according to regional needs.That will create favourable conditions for businesses to have empty containersfor shipping export goods, he said./.
VNA
