Exports

The shipment builds up a chain from farm to home, improving the prestige of Vietnamese products in the international market.

A shipment of Vietnamese lychees has been shipped to France that is expected to be available at the Asia supermarket chain in Paris soon.

The first batch of lychee was exported to France. Photo: Kinhtedothi

The fresh fruit is grown by farmers in Thanh Ha District, a lychee growing hub in the northern province of Hai Duong. It is exported by the Red Dragon Production Trading Service Co., Ltd.

This shipment of lychee is tagged with the origin tracing stamp “itrace247”, not only building up a chain from farm to home, but also improving the prestige of Vietnamese products in the international market.

Vu Anh Son, Head of the Vietnam Trade Office in France, told Vietnam News Agency that the Covid-19 pandemic posed difficulties for the business matching, preventing clients from checking the fruit samples and inspecting growing areas and quality of the fruit.

“Thanks to active negotiations between Vietnam’s agencies and French partners via online meeting platform, the deal has been sealed,” Son said.

Director of the Trade Promotion Agency Vu Ba Phu said that the French market is of great potential for Vietnamese lychees consumption of 20,000 to 25,000 tons per year. France is Vietnam’s second-largest lychee importer after the Netherlands.

Phu said his agency would coordinate with the Vietnam Trade Office in France and other Vietnamese trade offices in the EU countries to conduct promotional programs for Vietnamese lychees and other farm produces in the EU.

Another 10 tons of Vietnamese lychees are scheduled to be exported to France by sea and air in 2022.

More than ten tons of lychees from Hai Duong and Bac Giang provinces were exported to Japan, Singapore, and the EU in May.

Tran Van Trung, Director of Anh Khoa Seafood Company Limited in Ca Mau Province, said that the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic affected shrimp exports, as some countries controlled imports more strictly. Therefore, goods have to wait a whole month for the host country to take samples for quarantine after being brought to the ports, leading to higher costs.

However, thanks to the initiative and good adaptation, from the beginning of this year to now, the company’s shrimp exports have increased significantly compared to the same period last year. It is expected that the company’s exports will be 2-3 times higher than the previous year.

As one of the longtime enterprises in the shrimp industry, which also faced many difficulties due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Mr. Nguyen Minh Tuan, the representative of Minh Cuong Seafood Processing Joint Stock Company, said that shrimp exports of his company grew fairly well in the first months of this year. Currently, the company tries to maintain production and export and implement strict Covid-19 prevention measures, with the determination not to let the disease enter the factory.

According to the Department of Industry and Trade of Ca Mau Province, by the end of May this year, the province’s shrimp exports were estimated at more than US$423 million, achieving 40 percent of this year’s plan, up more than 16 percent year-on-year. In Bac Lieu Province, the total export turnover of shrimp products in the first five months of this year was estimated at $280 million, up more than 9 percent over the same period. In other provinces in the Mekong Delta, shrimp exports also grew positively compared to the same period last year.

Along with exporting, many shrimp farming households in the Mekong Delta continue to expand production and stabilize their lives. Mr. Pham Van Quan, a farmer in My Long Nam Commune in Cau Ngang District of Tra Vinh Province, said that a few months before, the price of black tiger shrimps sized 30 pieces per kilogram was up to VND200,000-VND220,000 per kg, which now has decreased to about VND170,000 per kg, and that of white-leg shrimps sized 30 pieces per kg is at VND130,000-VND140,000 per kg. At this price level, farmers still ensure profits.

Farmers harvest shrimps in Soc Trang Province. (Photo: SGGP)

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, seafood exports reached roughly $790 million in May this year, up 24 percent. Seafood exports in the first five months of this year hit $3.27 billion, up 14 percent year-on-year. Of which, shrimp exports reached $1.33 billion, up 14 percent year-on-year. This is an impressive result at a time when many other agricultural products are struggling with consumption.

Many potential markets

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Toan, Director of the Agro Processing and Market Development Authority under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that Vietnamese seafood exports are recovering. Specifically, in the first five months of this year, Vietnamese seafood products had been exported to over 120 markets, with the US, Japan, the EU, China, South Korea, the ASEAN, and Australia being the seafood export markets with the highest value.

As for shrimp products, the advantage is that the global import demand is increasing heavily, especially in large markets. Meanwhile, shrimp supply from some countries, such as India, Thailand, and other suppliers, has been reduced due to the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Taking advantage of this, Vietnamese enterprises have accelerated shrimp exports in the first months of this year and got good results.

It is forecasted that in the coming time, the US will continue to be a market with good growth for Vietnam’s shrimp products. Vietnamese enterprises also expect to increase shrimp exports to the EU, mainly white-leg shrimps. As for the South Korean market, there are also good signs of recovery and positive economic growth, so seafood trade with Korean enterprises will be more vibrant in the coming time.

Other markets, such as Australia, Canada, the UK, and Russia, will continue to be new potential markets because demand increases and there are no uncertainties or market barriers.

The country’s outbound shipments reached 29.7 billion USD in the March 1-20 period, Yonhap cited the data from the Korea Customs Service on March 21.

The customs office said that daily average exports, which reflect working days, also grew 9.3 percent on-year to 2.05 billion USD compared to a year earlier.

The country’s exports have been growing since November 2016.

By product, outbound shipments of semiconductors surged 44.2 percent, with petrochemical and mobile communication equipment rising 6.2 percent and 12.4 percent, respectively.

On the other hand, ships and electronics saw their shipments decline 9.6 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively.

Exports to the European Union shot up 39.9 percent on-year, with numbers for the United States and China rising 13.5 percent and 11.5 percent over the cited period.

Imports also increased 5.8 percent to some 28.3 billion USD, resulting in a trade surplus of around 1.3 billion USD, the data showed. – VNA

Addressing a conference held by the Vietnam Administration of Forestry on July 3, Tuan said that in the first six months of 2017, the sector basically fulfilled its assigned tasks and targets, which is expected to help increase the forest coverage to 41.45 percent this year.

However, the sector still faced several shortcomings. Despite decreasing deforestation, over 1,000 hectares were lost while the alternative afforestation progressed slowly, he noted.

He asked relevant agencies to exert efforts to deal with difficulties in forest production, and drastically implement the target program on sustainable forestry development in 2016-2020 and complete a draft law on forest protection and development.

The official also stressed the need to have specific measures to plant alternative forests.

During January-June, the forest production value grew 5.29 percent. The export turnover of woodwork and forest products reached USD 3.77 billion, up 12.7 percent year-on-year.

Vietnamese wood products have to date been shipped to over 100 countries and territories.

In the period, 40,612 hectares of alternative forests were planted, equivalent to 60 percent of the total area that needs to be covered.

Source: VNA

Exports of the Republic of Korea (RoK) in March 2018 rose 6.1 percent year-on-year (Photo: Yonhap)

Hanoi (VNA) – Exports of the Republic of Korea (RoK) in March 2018 rose 6.1 percent year-on-year, marking an increase for the 17th consecutive month, said the country’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

It was also the largest monthly tally for March, as outbound shipments reached 51.58 billion USD from 48.64 billion USD of last year. Shipments of chips and storage devices strongly surged in the period.

The RoK’s imports gained five percent on-year to 44.72 billion USD. Its trade surplus came to 6.87 billion USD, marking 77 straight months in which the country’s exports have exceeded imports, according to the Ministry.

“The upbeat pace in monthly exports is driven by recovering global trade and a boom in the information technology market,” the Ministry said in a release, adding that steady demand for the RoK’s semiconductors lent strong support to the exports of Asia’s fourth-largest economy.-VNA