August's exports decline, restraining 8-month growth

Falling deeply by 21.6% in August  

The implementation of pandemic preventive measures following the Prime Minister’s Directive 16 has had an impact on the whole country's economic and social activities. Many areas of production and business have been affected, in which agriculture is one of the hardest-hit sectors.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), in August, export turnover was estimated at nearly US$3.4 billion, down 21.6% compared to August 2020 and down 22% compared to July 2021.

Only three product groups got increases compared to July 2021 including cassava and cassava products (+26.6%), cereal products (+1.1%), milk and dairy products (+0.8%) while the rest all dropped sharply in export value.

The biggest decrease was reported in wood products (-50.2%), pangasius and shrimp (-29.7%), vegetables (-25.8%), fertilizer (-23.6%), and pepper ( -21.5%),…

The main reason is the Covid-19 pandemic which has caused a great impact on many enterprises’ production and processing activities. Many processing factories for exports only operate at 30-40% capacity, some of them even were forced to close due to F0 cases.

In the first eight months, the country's agricultural, forestry, and fishery export turnover was estimated at US$32.1 billion, up 21.6% over the same period last year. In which, exports of main agricultural products were about over US$13.9 billion, up 13.6%.

Revenue of main forest products reached about US$11.2 billion, up 42.7% while seafood value reached over US$5.6 billion, up 7.1%. The turnover from livestock production was estimated at US$296 million, up 15.9% and that of the production input group was about US$1.1 billion, up 31.1%. The value of raw and pre-processed goods was about US$21.5 billion, accounting for 67% of the total turnover.

For export markets, it was estimated that Vietnam's agricultural, forestry, and fishery export value in the first eight months of the year accounted for 41.5% of Asia, the Americas (31.3%) ), Europe (11.3%), Africa (1.9%), and Oceania (1.5%).

The largest export market was the United States with over US$9.3 billion (accounting for 29.1% of the market share), of which the export turnover from wood and wood products accounted for 71.0% of the total turnover of Vietnam's agricultural, forestry, and fishery exported to this market.

The second was China, with nearly US$6.1 billion (accounting for 18.9% of the market share) with the export turnover of vegetables and fruits accounting for 25.5% of the total. The third was Japan with an export value of over $2.2 billion (accounting for 6.8%) and the largest group of wood products (accounting for 43.0% of the value). The fourth was South Korea with an export turnover of over US$1.4 billion (accounting for 4.3%) and the largest export group of wood products (accounting for 44.2% of the value).

In the first eight months of the year, Vietnam's import turnover of agricultural, forestry, and fishery products was estimated at US$28.8 billion, up 44.1% over the same period in 2020. In which, the agricultural import value of main products was US$17.8 billion, up 57.7%. The value of the livestock products group reached over US$2.5 billion, up 6.6%. The group of aquatic products was estimated to reach a value of US$1.4 billion, up 19.3%. The main group of forest products was about US$ 2.2 billion in value, up 38.3% while that of the production input group was nearly US$5.0 billion, up 36%.

Cambodia was the largest export market of agricultural products to Vietnam, reaching US$2.9 billion, accounting for 10% of the market share (of which cashew products accounted for 72% of the value). It was followed by the United States with over US$2.7 billion, accounting for 9.3% (cotton products accounted for 36.3% proportion).

In the first eight months of 2021, the total import and export turnover of Vietnam's agricultural, forestry, and fishery products was estimated at approximately US$61 billion, of which exports were at US$32 billion, up 21.6% over the same period last year. Import was figured at US$28.8 billion, up 44% while export surplus was about US$3.3 billion, down 48% over the same period last year.

Information Forum launched to connect supply and demand

To overcome difficulties in the last months of 2021, the MARD has said in the coming time, it will direct specific tasks and solutions to promote market development and remove barriers creating favorable conditions for domestic consumption and export.

In particular, in August, MARD launched an Information Forum to boost connecting agricultural production and consumption. The forum attracted the participation of leaders in the agricultural sector from 63 provinces and cities, hundreds of enterprises, cooperatives, and associations nationwide.

The ministry will support to connect and bring agricultural products into supermarket systems and agricultural product store chains and guide localities in promoting their participation in reputable e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba, Amazon, Sendo, Voso, and Shopee...

It will strengthen online training for agricultural officials, cooperatives, farmer groups, farms owners and craft villagers, etc. to upload product information on the trading floor.

It will also boost the connection and coordination with telecommunications groups (Viettel Post and VNPT Post) and businesses having professional delivery applications (Grab and GoViet, etc.), propose to support digital transformation in agriculture and promote producing and consuming agricultural products, enhance electronic transactions and support to bring agricultural products to participate in e-commerce platforms so that to promote, introduce and connect consumption.

Besides, the ministry will build and put into operation a website connecting supply and demand of agricultural products and goods in the southern provinces (https://htx.cooplink.com.vn/); organize forums to connect consumption for agricultural products.

It will coordinate with ministries, branches, localities, and associations to focus on solving technical difficulties, facilitating customs clearance and logistics infrastructure, strictly implementing the Government's direction in document version No. 5187/VPCP-CN dated July 29, 2021, to prevent stagnation of goods in production areas, factories, provinces bordering with China and key export markets.

In localities that are having to follow the pandemic prevention and control measures according to Directives 15 and 16, MARD will review key commodity traders’ goods supply activities, establish temporary cargo gathering points and improve the supply capacity of the distribution system.

It will strengthen the implementation of mobile sales and online sales programs; build "green channels" and "green zones" for agricultural products so as not to disrupt the supply chain, especially for those with large output, reaching harvest time and with short storage duration so that to ensure enough food for people in localities that are following the Directive 16.

Communication about agricultural consumption will be strengthened through statistics and information on output, area, and crop seasons of key agricultural products and specialties of each locality across the country to provide to consumers and communication agencies at the same time monitor and grasp consumption hotspots as well as actively coordinate with localities to develop consumption scenarios.

It will simultaneously continue to coordinate with the Ministry of Information and Communications to develop a propaganda plan for key agricultural products and local specialties according to their seasons and support farmers in consuming their products on e-commerce platforms during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In particular, the MARD will focus on boosting international trade and export promotion activities such as organizing seminars and forums to promote exports, open markets, and provide information for agricultural export enterprises and localities about trade agreements and guide them in the implementation of policies and regulations on export markets adapting with conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic.

It will work closely with overseas Vietnam's commercial counselors abroad, to support localities and enterprises in exporting standard agricultural products to markets of EU, UK, China, and Japan.