In the first 4 months of 2024, the group of key agricultural products reached nearly 11 billion USD, an increase of 32.5%; livestock products reached 152 million USD, an increase of 3.6%; fisheries reached 2.7 billion USD, an increase of 4.2%; and forestry products reached over 5 billion USD, an increase of 23% compared to the same period last year.
GROWTH OF MANY KEY AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS
Regarding individual items in the agricultural product group, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that in the first 4 months of 2024, coffee exports had the highest growth, reaching 2.5 billion USD, an increase of over 54% compared to the same period last year.
Next is rice. After 4 months, 3 million tons were exported, with an export value of 1.93 billion USD, an increase of 13.5% in volume and 23.7% in value compared to the same period last year. Vietnam’s rice exports continue to dominate the key markets with high consumption demand for output. Among them, the Philippines is still Vietnam’s largest rice importer, accounting for 46.4% of the total volume and 45.5% of the total export value; followed by Indonesia, which accounts for over 20% of the total volume and total export value of rice in the country.
“In the first 4 months of 2024, the US was still Vietnam’s largest export market for agricultural, forestry, and aquatic products, accounting for 20%; followed by China with nearly 19% and Japan with nearly 7%”.
According to the calculation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the volume of commercial rice for export in the provinces of the Mekong River Delta region in 2024 is estimated at about 7.6 million tons. Of which, the high-quality rice group is about 3.2 million tons; fragrant, specialty rice group is 2.5 million tons; medium-quality rice group is 1.15 million tons; glutinous rice group is 0.75 million tons. However, with the export results in the last 4 months (the highest in the first 4 months ever), if the whole year is still maintained at 750 thousand tons/month, the export market share can reach 9 million tons of rice.
The Vietnam Food Association also forecasts that the export volume of rice in the first 6 months of 2024 will definitely exceed 4.5 million tons. Therefore, the amount of commercial rice needed for export in the last 6 months is estimated at 3.22 million tons. To meet this demand, businesses may have to import more rice from Cambodia to meet export orders. In 2024, rice exports are forecast to set a record turnover of 5 billion USD.
Along with coffee and rice, fruits and vegetables are also agricultural products with impressive growth in the first 4 months of 2024, with export turnover reaching 1.8 billion USD, an increase of 32% compared to the same period last year. According to the assessment of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, the export prospects for the fruit and vegetable sector in 2024 continue to have positive developments, especially from the Chinese market. Notably, Vietnam currently exports 14 key agricultural products to this market, such as: durian, bird’s nest, sweet potato, dragon fruit, longan, rambutan, mango, jackfruit, watermelon, banana, black agar , mangosteen, lychee and passion fruit.
EXPORTS OF WOOD AND WOODEN FURNITURE STILL HAVE MUCH POTENTIAL
According to Mr. Ngo Sy Hoai, Vice Chairman and General Secretary of the Vietnam Wood and Forest Products Association, the wood and wood products group has regained its growth momentum when in the first 4 months of the year, it reached an export turnover of 4.8 billion USD, up nearly 24% compared to the same period last year.
“At the end of 2023, we predicted that when the market hit the bottom, it would be a U-shaped bottom and lay “flat” for a few years before growing again. However, in just the first 4 months of 2024, exports of wood and wood products have regained their strong growth momentum. According to many businesses, the number of orders has increased again, and the amount of inventory has decreased significantly. In addition, the time to place orders and deliver goods has been shortened to avoid risks in price and freight cost fluctuations,” said Mr. Hoai.
In very difficult conditions due to military conflicts and tensions in the Red Sea causing the supply chain of goods to be disrupted, the fact that wood and wood products still increase in turnover is a positive signal. From this positive result, the wood industry sets a target that the export turnover of wood and wood products in 2024 will reach about 17.5 billion USD.
Assessing the opportunities to expand market share in the international market, the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association believes that there is still great potential, especially for the main export item of wooden furniture. According to statistics from the International Trade Center (ITC), in the period 2019 – 2022, the world furniture market (HS code 94) reached an average of 553 billion USD/year; in which the import demand for wooden furniture reached 75 billion USD, while Vietnam’s export turnover of wooden furniture accounted for less than 10% of the market share. In addition, the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) that Vietnam has ratified continue to be a driving force and an opportunity for the wood industry to grow.
OPENING UP OPPORTUNITIES FOR NEW PRODUCTS
Among the export markets for wood and wood products, the US is considered the market with the most promising growth, accounting for 53.2% of Vietnam’s total export turnover of this item in the first 4 months of 2024…
The content of the article was published in Vietnam Economic Journal No. 19-2024 issued on May 06, 2024. We invite readers to read more at here:
https://postenp.phaha.vn/chi-tiet-toa-soan/tap-chi-kinh-te-viet-nam
