Hanoi (VNA) – The export turnover offruits and vegetables fell 9.9 percent year-on-year to 584 million USD in thefirst two months of 2019, according to the department of agro-productprocessing and market development under the Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development.
The reduction was attributed to fluctuations ofthe fruit and vegetable market in February due to the prolonged Lunar New Year(Tet holiday).
China ranked first in importing fruits andvegetables from Vietnam in January 2019 with 72.6 percent of the market share.
Strong growth was also seen in the Republic ofKorea (up 68.2 percent), the Netherlands (up 60.2 percent), Australia (up 54.8percent) and the United Arab Emirates (up 36.8 percent).
Notably, in February 2019, the US allowed theimports of fresh mangoes from Vietnam. This is the sixth fruit exported to themarket, after dragon fruit, langon, rambutan, “thieu” lychee and star apple.
Last year, the US was one of the markets withthe most impressive growth of 37 percent compared to 2017. It is forecast thatVietnam’s fruit exports to the US will continue seeing high growth thanks tothe export of mangoes.
Vietnam is able to ship around 3,000 tonnes offresh mangoes to the US, equivalent to nearly one percent of the US’s mangoimports.
The fruit and vegetable sector aims to grossnearly 4.2 billion USD in export turnover in 2019.
In 2018, Vietnam exported 3.8 billion USD worthof fruits and vegetables, an annual rise of 8.9 percent.-VNA