Agricultural exports reach over US$ 10 billion in Q1

The total import-export turnover of agro-forestry-fishery products stood at US$ 18.34 billion in the first quarter of 2021, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The export turnover increased by 19.7 percent year-on-year to US$ 10.61 billion while the import turnover reached US$ 7.74 billion, up 44.7 percent, resulting in a trade surplus of US$ 2.87 billion, a decrease of 18.2 percent over the same period last year.

Many products registered high export revenue during the period such as rubber (US$ 721 million, up 116 percent), tea (US$ 41 million, up 6.2 percent), and vegetables and fruits (US$ 944 million, up 6.1 percent).

Between January and March, Viet Nam reported a decrease in export revenue in some agricultural products including coffee (US$ 771 million, down 11.3 percent year-on-year), rice (US$ 606 million, down 17.4 percent), cashew nuts (US$ 634 million, down 5.8 percent) and tra fish (US$ 373 million, down 2.6 percent).

Asia was the largest market of Vietnamese agro-forestry-fishery products, accounting for 54.4 percent of the market share. It was followed by America, Europe, Australia, and Africa with 32.2 percent, 11.8 percent, 1.8 percent, and 1.5 percent, respectively, the ministry said.

For the first quarter, Viet Nam recorded import turnover of about US$ 3.7 billion in the group of key agricultural products, (an increase of 66.7 percent compared with last year’s figure), US$ 505 million in the group of aquatic products (up 21.6 percent), US$ 913 million (up 14 percent) in the husbandry and about US$ 728 million in the group of wooden products (up 34.7 percent).

The agricultural sector has set the GDP growth target of 3.52 percent and export turnover of over US$ 9.7 billion in the second quarter of this year.

To develop processing and consumption markets for agro-forestry-fishery products, the MARD will continue to monitor and synthesize information and data on prices, production, and supply of agricultural products at localities across the country, especially those seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ministry will issue regulations on the operation of the ministry’s Steering Committee for the implementation of the "Vietnamese people priority to use Vietnamese goods" campaign.

Regarding international trade and export promotion activities, the MARD will disseminate market regulations, technical barriers to agricultural trade, and orientations to the export of agro-forestry-fishery products to key markets.

According to the General Statistics Office, the Vietnamese economy expanded by 4.48 percent in the first quarter of 2021. 

The economy grew only 3.8 percent in the first quarter of last year and though the pandemic continued to impact the economy this year, the increased growth was a positive sign in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The agro-forestry-fishery sector grew at 3.16 percent, the industrial and construction sector 6.3 percent, and the services sector at 3.34 percent, contributing 8.34 percent, 55.96 percent, and 35.7 percent to overall economic growth, respectively.

The GSO said that the services sector posted positive growth as enterprises took advantage of free trade agreements.

The first quarter saw the strong recovery of imports and exports with total trade revenue estimated at US$ 152.65 billion, a rise of 24.1 percent against the same period last year. The country enjoyed a trade surplus of US$ 2.03 billion in the first quarter.