Not only favoring rice, cashew nuts, and coffee, in 9 months, China spent nearly 3 billion USD importing fruits and vegetables from Vietnam, raising the total import turnover of Vietnamese agricultural products to a record 6.2 billion USD.
A report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shows that in the first 9 months of the year, the total export turnover of the entire agricultural sector is estimated at 38.48 billion USD, down 5.1% over the same period last year.
China, the US and Japan are the three largest export markets for Vietnamese agricultural, forestry and fishery products. While export turnover to Japan and the US decreased by 7-22% compared to the first 9 months of last year, only the Chinese market went against the trend and grew positively. By the end of September, agricultural, forestry and fishery exports to this market reached 8.71 billion USD, up 16.7% over the same period last year. Of which, agricultural exports were the bright star when reaching more than 6.2 billion USD, accounting for 70% of total agricultural, forestry and fishery exports - the highest ever.
In the fruit and vegetable group alone, in the first 9 months, Vietnam exported 2.75 billion USD to this country - a record high. Compared to the same period last year, the export turnover of this item increased by 160%. Durian is the item that accounts for a large proportion of 55% of the total fruit and vegetable export turnover and reached 1.5 billion USD.
Durian at a garden in Long An. Photo: Hoang Nam
After vegetables and fruits, rice is the item that China spends the most on with nearly half a billion USD, an increase of more than 55% over the same period in 2022.
Similarly, cashew nut exports to this market reached nearly 434 million USD, up more than 42%; coffee exports were over 101 million USD, up 11.4%; animal feed and raw materials reached nearly 436 million USD, up 30%.
Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, said that China is leading in the market share of purchasing Vietnamese goods. In particular, with fruits and vegetables, last year China's market share of importing Vietnamese fruits and vegetables only accounted for 43% of the total turnover, but in the first 9 months of this year it increased by 22% to 65%. This level is many times higher than the top 5 countries, namely the US, South Korea, Japan and the Netherlands. This is the most impressive figure in the past decades.
Explaining the reason for the strong increase in Vietnamese agricultural products in the billion-people market , Mr. Nguyen said that it was thanks to the signing of many official protocols for exporting vegetables and fruits here. In particular, durian is a product favored by Chinese consumers, so the export output increased dramatically by dozens of times and became a billion-dollar product.
Sharing the same view, according to Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung - CEO of Vina T&T Import Export Company, China is an important market for Vietnam. This is a giant country with the largest consumption of goods in the world. Therefore, when being exported officially, combined with a favorable geographical location and fast delivery time, Vietnamese goods have exploded and created a position in this market.
According to Mr. Tung, this year, Vietnamese durian exports to China could reach 2 billion USD. His company's durian containers through this market are still quite favorable. "If meeting the factors of fast delivery, good quality, and competitive prices, Vietnamese goods have the opportunity to take a large market share in this country of a billion people," said Mr. Tung.
In addition to the advantages, Mr. Tung said that the fruit and vegetable industry still faces difficulties in this market when Vietnamese dragon fruit, grapefruit, and longan begin to compete fiercely with domestic products and exports from many other countries. In addition, many Vietnamese export products are still of poor quality when there are shipments of unripe fruit, with pests. In particular, many export products also have incorrect growing area codes.
Therefore, Mr. Tung believes that if the quality is not improved, Vietnamese goods will easily lose their "lucrative" market share in the billion-people market. Compared to competitors Thailand, India, and the Philippines, Vietnam is a neighboring country with a border with China, so exporting by land and sea is quite favorable with much lower costs. Therefore, if we know how to take advantage of our scale, improve quality, and produce goods during peak consumption seasons in China such as Mid-Autumn Festival, National Day, Lunar New Year... Vietnamese fruits and vegetables will win big in this market.
To further exploit the potential of the Chinese market, Mr. Nguyen said that Vietnamese enterprises need to conduct more in-depth and comprehensive research on this market. Vietnamese authorities need to coordinate with relevant Chinese agencies to continue to open more official import channels for fruits and vegetables, along with diversifying export products and seeking large partners.
In the fourth quarter, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development predicts that agricultural exports will set many new records. In a meeting with Chinese customs held at the beginning of the year, Minister Le Minh Hoan identified this as a key market for Vietnam. In the near future, fresh Vietnamese coconuts will be exported to China through official channels, and the turnover of agricultural products will continue to explode. Along with that, the export of rice, cashew nuts, etc. to this market will continue to be favorable as China's peak consumption season approaches.
Thi Ha
Vnexpress.net
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