The "sudden brake" of the fruit and vegetable industry

A quick report from the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association (Vinafruit) said that the export turnover of fruits and vegetables in February was estimated at nearly 288 million USD, down 41.5% compared to January and down 11% compared to the same period in 2023. This is quite a surprising result when in January 2024, fruit and vegetable exports reached 490 million USD, an increase of over 90% over the same period last year.

Explaining the reason for this decline, Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of Vinafruit, said: February this year falls on the traditional New Year of both Vietnam and China. The Tet holiday period lasts right in the middle of the month, so it has greatly affected Vietnam's export activities. Last year, Tet was in January, so the export turnover of vegetables and fruits in February was not much affected.

Although February export turnover decreased, the overall growth of fruit and vegetable exports in the two months was still impressive. In the two months, fruit and vegetable exports reached nearly 778 million USD, up 37.7% over the same period last year. It is forecasted that in March, the market will return to normal operations without many fluctuations like the past two months.

Fruit and vegetable exports unexpectedly dropped sharply in February 2024

In fact, there have been export shipments in the first days of the new year of Giap Thin 2024. Among them, it is possible to mention the batch of star apples in the Mekong Delta that was successfully exported to the US; dragon fruit to China...

Most recently, Hoang Phat Fruit Company Limited exported seedless mangoes to the Korean market. Ms. Nguyen Nam Phuong Thao, Deputy Director of Hoang Phat Fruit Company Limited, said that the number of orders and profits from exporting fresh fruits of Hoang Phat Fruit in January 2024 increased by over 30% with more than 4,000 tons of all kinds.

The most exported fruits are mango and dragon fruit. In addition to the traditional market of China, Hoang Phat Fruit's fruits have also reached markets that the company has expanded to in recent years such as: Korea, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

According to Ms. Thao, the Australian and New Zealand markets are more resilient, and the people's economies there are also gradually recovering well, so these two markets will grow a lot. "The market will be more positive when the economy gradually recovers, people will also spend more, this year the market is expected to be better," Ms. Thao expressed.

Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung - General Director of Vina T&T Company, said that the company exported An Giang mangoes to the US and Australia for the first time and also exported durian to China.

"The market is very good and favorable; customers from traditional markets are still fully booked. We are also preparing fruit for export at the end of this month. Everything is going very smoothly," said Mr. Tung.

Vina T&T Company's "home" markets are the US, Australia, Europe, China, with the main fruits: durian, dragon fruit, mango, rambutan, longan, grapefruit, coconut, so the growth rate last year was 40%. Mr. Tung is also optimistic that in 2024, export growth will remain at double digits because the market signals are quite favorable.

Regarding the prospects for fruit and vegetable exports in 2024, Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen - General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association said that although the world and domestic economic situation is forecast to face many difficulties, the fruit and vegetable industry has a lot of room to aim for an export turnover of 7 billion USD. The main factors that can promote the fruit and vegetable industry to achieve the set target in 2024 include: Demand in the largest fruit and vegetable export market, China, remains high. Currently, Vietnam is still negotiating with China to have more products officially exported to this market. In addition, continue to promote exports to major markets such as the US, EU, Australia, Korea, etc.

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