Agricultural products export billions of USD plunged together

Different from the "sweet fruit" achieved in 2018, right at the beginning of 2019, export of many key agricultural products is in the "top" of billion USD, continuously receiving less positive information when falling sharply in both quantity and value.

In 2019, agricultural, forestry and fishery export targets 43 billion USD. Source: Internet

Mass decline

According to information that the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Development (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) has just announced, agricultural, forestry and fishery export turnover in February is estimated at 1.93 billion USD, bringing the total export value in the first 2 months to reach 5.5 billion USD, down 1.6% compared to the same period in 2018. Of which, the export value of major agricultural products was estimated at 2.71 billion USD, down by 10.1%. Notably, the export value of many major agricultural products such as rice, pepper, cashew, coffee and cassava... all went down compared to the same period last year.

In the picture of agricultural exports at the beginning of the year, a typical strong decline that must be mentioned is rice. Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development stated: Up to now, Vietnam has always been in the top 3 rice exporting countries in the world, only after India and Thailand. However, from the end of 2018 until now, rice prices have decreased. The largest market is China and other markets have not prospered.

In the first 2 months of the year, rice export is estimated at 837 thousand tons and 364 million USD, up 1.1% in volume but down 10.4% in value over the same period in 2018. In the domestic market with rice prices in the Mekong Delta region, Kien Giang fell the most in context of the winter-spring crop harvest.

Besides rice, pepper is also a commodity that recorded a big decrease in price. According to the Import and Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), pepper price after the Lunar New Year holiday was stable at 46,000 VND / kg, the lowest price in nearly 10 years. However, very shortly after that, only about 2 weeks after Tet, pepper prices continued declining to only 44,000 VND / kg, equal to 1/5 of the record level of 230,000 VND / kg set in 2013 – 2014. Update to February 28, pepper prices in the South and Central Highlands range from VND 42,000 to VND 45,000 / kg. In particular, the lowest prices were recorded in Dak Lak and Dong Nai provinces.

Around the gloomy story of exporting agricultural products in general, and for rice in particular, Mr. Le Van Banh - former Director of Mekong Delta Rice Institute assessed: In 2018, the rice industry seems to have prospered with an increase in both price and quality. However, 2019 witnessed fiercer competition when large purchasing countries tended to reduce imports, moving towards food self-sufficiency.

In the opposite direction, other countries increased export to the market. Specifically, previously only Vietnam, Thailand and India produced and exported rice, but now Cambodia and Bangladesh also produce and export rice. The Myanmar market previously held the second position in rice production, but after a period of decline has also begun to recover.

Similar to rice, export of cashew nuts, pepper... is also forecasted not to be smooth throughout the year 2019. According to Vietnam Cashew Association (Vinacas), 2019 is still a very big year for processing factories and trading things. Raw cashew prices will tend to go down steeply the next time the new crop enters the market. In terms of cashew, prices will continue to be quiet until March, April when fried roaster companies start purchasing contracts for 2019.

Market diversification

Around the story of Vietnam's agricultural production and export, Deputy Minister of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Ha Cong Tuan evaluated: Besides the positive aspects, labor productivity, quality and competitiveness of many Vietnamese agricultural products although improved are still low, especially in the context of Vietnam's deep international integration. In addition, the production capacity of Vietnam's agriculture has been very strong while the consumption market is unpredictable. The work of forecasting supply and demand is weak, so sometimes there are times where agricultural products have been stagnant, consumption is slow, prices are reduced, affecting production, income and people's life...

According to the report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, although Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery export markets are wide and diverse, the level of concentration on some main markets is quite high. The trend of diversification of export markets is still slow, so there is a high risk of trade barriers and lack of initiative when there are changes in those markets. Specifically, the export turnover of fresh fruits and vegetables into China accounts for 75.6% of the total export turnover of Vietnam vegetables and fruits; Export of wood products to the United States accounted for 40.7%; Seafood exports to the US accounted for 17.6% and into the EU accounted for 17.4% ...

Looking at the case of rice alone, Mr. Banh stated: In order for Vietnam's rice market to develop stably with sustainable export, rice enterprises must diversify export markets; At the same time, it is necessary to increase the quality of rice and enhance the prestige in the world rice market. This is also an important solution for Vietnamese rice to be exported to difficult markets such as Northeast Asia, Western Europe...

With cashew nuts, the Vietnam Cashew Association recommends: Producers must very actively be seeking markets for cashew consumption. At the same time, processors and exporters of cashew nuts need to have a synchronous solution, from improving competitiveness, meeting quality standards, hygiene and food safety, timely delivery, completing export documents quickly and correctly, rectify after-sales service,...

In the coming time, in order to actively support production and export of agricultural products, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has determined to promote innovation and development of agricultural cooperatives, developing farms in the direction of focusing more on agricultural large-scale, high-quality goods-producing people; strengthening international integration capacity; trade promotion, market development, improve research capacity and forecasting agricultural supply and demand...