Vietnams mangoes export volumnes to US doubles

The US has imported twice the quantity of Vietnamese mangoes in Jan-August 2020, indicating a potential for further development in the market.

Mango is Vietnam’s sixth fresh fruit licensed to be exported to the U.S. after dragon fruit, rambutan, longan, lychee, and star apple (Photo: VNE)

According to VNE, the value of mago imports rose 99.9 percent year-on-year to $2.79 million, according to a report by the Agency of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, citing U.S. official figures.

The average import price was $2,064.8 per tonne, up 6.7 percent year-on-year. Most of the imports were of fresh and frozen fruit.

In terms of volume, Vietnam was the 12th largest mango import market for the U.S. in the said period, accounting for 0.3 percent of the total.

The Agency of Foreign Trade said the large demand for mango, especially fresh fruit, in the U.S. is an opportunity for Vietnamese companies to expand.

However, they need to ensure all strict standards on farming, packaging and origin tracing are met, it added.

Vietnam exported its first batch of mango to the U.S. in April last year.

The surge in Vietnam’s mango exports to the U.S. is a rare bright spot in the nation’s plunging fruits exports scenario, primarily as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the first nine months, fruit export value fell 19.1 percent year-on-year to $1.7 billion, with shipment figures of lychees, durians and bananas plummeting, the agency said.

Vietnam has exported its first batch of eight tons of mango to the U.S. after a decade-long process of getting approval.

The consignment, shipped from Dong Thap Province in the Mekong Delta on Thursday, has been given a barcode to check origin by the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

The fruits were grown without any plant protection chemicals to meet U.S. standards.

Dong Thap has the largest area under mango in the delta -- over 9,300 hectares -- and produces around 127,000 tons a year.

The U.S. gave Vietnam the green light to ship mangoes in February, 10 years after it applied for it.

Mango is Vietnam’s sixth fresh fruit licensed to be exported to the U.S. after dragon fruit, rambutan, longan, lychee, and star apple.

The U.S. was Vietnam’s fourth largest buyer of agriculture produce last year, accounting for 10.7 percent of its exports, behind China, the E.U. and ASEAN, according to VNE.