Fruit, vegetable exports hit 1.38 billion USD in five months

Illustrative photo (Source: vccinews

Hanoi (VNA) - Fruit and vegetable exports earned an estimated 1.38 billion USD in the first five months of 2017, up 38 percent from the same period last year.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the sector exported 344 million USD worth of these products in May.

The top four importers of Vietnamese goods were China, the US, Japan and the Republic of Korea that accounted for 83.8 percent of the total value of fruit and vegetables.

Markets seeing an increase in imports of Vietnamese fruit and vegetables included the United Arab Emirates (2.1 times), Russia (76.3 percent), Japan (51.2 percent), and China (36.8 percent).

In the January-May period, Vietnam imported 470 million USD worth of fruit and vegetables, up 68.6 percent year on year. The vegetable import was estimated at 100 million USD, up 49 percent from 2016, while the imported fruit value was 353 million USD, up 75 percent.

According to the Ministry, in the domestic market, early Thanh Ha lychees were sold in Hanoi at the price up to 50,000 VND (2.2 USD) per kg, an increase of around 10 percent year on year.

Prices of avocado in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak also surged between 15-20 percent from the same period last year.

Prices of vegetables in Lam Dong are likely to increase because of shortage of supply.