China increases purchases, many Nghe An agricultural products increase in price

People in Tan Thang commune (Quynh Luu) harvest pineapples at the end of the season. Photo: TP

These days, people in Tan Thang, Quynh Thang, Quynh Chau (Quynh Luu), Quynh Vinh (Hoang Mai town) communes are busy harvesting the last pineapple of the season. The pineapple season is good, the fruit is big, even, beautiful and the price of pineapple is high, so people are very excited.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai, a farmer in Tan Thang commune, said: “2 hectares of pineapples are grown in a rolling manner, now 0.5 hectares are being harvested. If the pineapple area at the beginning of the season was only sold for 3,000 - 4,500 VND/kg, from the beginning of October 2023 until now, the price of pineapple has gradually increased, currently being purchased at 9,000 VND/kg, pineapple imported to factories is 6,500 VND/kg, double the price at the beginning of the season, so people are very excited”.

Pineapples are purchased at higher prices than at the beginning of the season. In addition to being sold to processing plants, most of the pineapples are consumed in the Chinese market. Photo: TP

According to statistics, Tan Thang commune has about 800 hectares of pineapple, planted in a spread-out cropping pattern, harvested from January to early November of the lunar calendar. At this time, Tan Thang has about 100 hectares of pineapple for harvest. Tan Thang pineapple is mainly purchased by traders and imported to pineapple processing factories in the northern provinces or to China.

At the beginning of the season, pineapple prices were low and difficult to sell, but since June, pineapple prices have started to increase. “For about a month now, pineapple prices have increased. Pineapple imported for processing factories is still at 6,500 VND/kg, but when traders collect freely, the price has increased to 9,000 VND/kg, and grade 1 pineapple has increased to 10,000-11,000 VND/kg. As far as we know, China has opened its import market and purchased large quantities of pineapples, so pineapple prices have increased and are easier to sell,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Cap - Vice Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Tan Thang Commune.

Pineapple harvest and good price make people very excited. Photo: TP

The total pineapple growing area in the province is estimated at 1,592.2 hectares, an increase of 6.59% (+98.4 hectares) over the same period last year. Pineapple is mainly grown in Quynh Luu district with 1,150 hectares, Yen Thanh district with 85 hectares, Hoang Mai town with 75.8 hectares, and Ky Son district with 65 hectares. In recent years, pineapple has brought high economic efficiency and stable garden prices, so people have converted some annual crop areas to pineapple cultivation.

In addition to providing raw materials for pineapple processing factories, most pineapples are imported to China through unofficial channels. Therefore, the price of pineapples in the country in general and in Nghe An in particular, high or low, depends largely on China.

According to statistics from the General Department of Customs, in the past 10 months, China spent 929.6 million USD to buy nearly 2.2 million tons of cassava and cassava products, accounting for 90.4% of Vietnam's total export turnover of this industry. Experts say that the last months of 2023 are the peak consumption season for Chinese food products, which will have a positive impact on the export prospects of cassava and cassava products from Vietnam to this market.

Nghe An farmers are in the main cassava harvest season. Photo: TP

China increased its purchases, the export price of cassava increased, so the domestic price of cassava also increased slightly. In Nghe An, the price of fresh cassava was purchased at 2,300 - 2,500 VND/kg, the highest in the past 7 years. Currently, cassava growing areas in Nghe An are in the harvest season, cassava prices are high, so people are very excited.

Mr. Duong Dinh Hung, in charge of the raw material area of ​​the cassava starch factory in Thanh Chuong, said: “The company has nearly 2,000 hectares of raw cassava with an annual output of up to 45,000 tons. Currently, farmers are in the main cassava harvest season, and the factory is purchasing from farmers at a price of 2,420 VND/kg, 200-300 VND/kg higher than previous years. Therefore, people are very excited. As soon as the cassava is harvested, the factory will purchase it for the people.”

China has increased its purchases of cassava chips and starch, so the price of domestic raw cassava has increased sharply, making it easier to consume. Photo: TP

According to a recent report by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, by the end of September, Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery exports to China reached 8.71 billion USD, up 16.7% over the same period last year. Of which, agricultural exports reached more than 6.2 billion USD, accounting for 70% of total agricultural, forestry and fishery exports, the highest record ever.

Although Nghe An does not directly export some products, it does so through other domestic companies and partners. However, when China increases its purchases, agricultural products are consumed strongly and high prices have a strong impact on the prices of Nghe An agricultural products. Therefore, in addition to cassava, peanuts, and tea, other agricultural products such as pineapple, rice, young areca nuts, dragon fruit, etc., have increased sharply in price, bringing large revenues to people and helping farmers make a profit.

Areca nuts are purchased by traders, dried and exported to China. Photo: TP

Mr. Nguyen Trong Dung, a betel nut grower in Thanh Hoa commune (Thanh Chuong) said: “If in 2022, the betel nut price hit rock bottom, only 2,000-3,000 VND/kg, we still could not sell it, we had to let it fall; in early 2023, when China reopened its betel nut purchasing, the betel nut price gradually increased to 12,000-13,000 VND/kg and is now fluctuating between 25,000-30,000 VND/kg. Betel nut is mainly purchased by kilns to separate the seeds, dry and sell to China. Therefore, if China buys at a high price, we can sell at a high price and vice versa.”

According to the Nghe An province's Export Development Project for the period 2021 - 2025, it is to promote export activities to the Chinese-speaking market (including China, Taiwan and Hong Kong) in the direction of maintaining a trade surplus on the basis of effectively exploiting the ASEAN - China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA), the ASEAN - Hong Kong Free Trade Agreement (AHKFTA) with products in which the province has advantages such as: Wood chips; Construction materials; Electronic components; Agriculture, forestry and fishery; Textiles...

By 2025, Nghe An's export turnover to the Chinese-speaking market is expected to reach about 1.8 billion USD, accounting for 45% and growing 33.8% per year.

Source: https://baonghean.vn/trung-quoc-tang-mua-nhieu-nong-san-nghe-an-tang-gia-post280457.html