(HSV VIETNAM GROUP) – A series of Vietnam's key export products have accelerated right from the beginning of the year, with some industries reaching nearly 2 billion USD in just 2 months.
In 2 months, agricultural production had a surplus of 2.68 billion USD
Durian exports are likely to reach $3.5 billion this year
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in the first 2 months of 2024, the total export turnover of agriculture, forestry and fishery products is estimated to reach 9.84 billion USD, an increase of 50.3% over the same period in 2023; The trade surplus value reached 2.68 billion USD, an increase of nearly 2.9 times. In particular, contributing to this result are: agricultural products 5.18 billion USD (up 55.7%); forest products 2.9 billion USD (up 59.7%); seafood 1.37 billion USD…
The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) informed that in the first month of 2024, seafood exports increased by 64% over the same period in 2023, reaching over 1 billion USD.
For coffee products, preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs show that in the first half of February 2024, Vietnam exported nearly 57,000 tons of coffee, with a turnover of 184.4 million USD. Overall, from the beginning of the year to February 15, the amount of coffee exported reached nearly 295,000 tons, with a turnover of 911 million USD. Compared to the same period last year, the amount of coffee exported only increased by 26.6%, but the export value increased sharply by 79.7%. Currently, the average export coffee price is nearly 3,100 USD/ton, up nearly 43% over the same period.
Coffee exporting businesses said February coincided with the Lunar New Year, so many orders slowed down. However, export momentum increased again in the second half of February, reaching an additional 200 - 300 million USD. Therefore, this product can earn more than 1 billion USD in the first 2 months of the year, an increase of 50% compared to the same period in 2023. Notably, after many years of falling out of the top 5 export products with the highest turnover, coffee has now returned and is currently the product with the third highest export turnover in the agricultural sector, second only to the group of wood and seafood products. The export value of coffee is only 22 million USD lower than that of seafood products.
Wooden furniture and forest products, after a year of disappointment because they did not meet their targets (only reaching 16 billion USD for the whole year 2023 compared to the plan of 17.5 billion USD), quickly brightened and regained their form. In January, wooden furniture export turnover reached 1.5 billion USD and in February continued to maintain a stable number, in total in the first 2 months of the year it reached approximately 3 billion USD. With this impressive start, the furniture industry is expected to grow strongly throughout the year to create a new miracle.
Another industry that continues to flourish and develop continuously for the past 2 years is fruits and vegetables. In the past 2 months, fruit and vegetable exports grew well, even though February fell during the Tet holiday. In the first 2 months of the year, the fruit and vegetable industry brought in nearly 800 million USD, growing by 40% over the same period last year.
Moving towards new records
Commenting on opportunities for the seafood industry in 2024, Ms. Le Hang, VASEP Communications Director, analyzed: "Although many businesses said the market has not really prospered and there are still many difficulties, the high growth numbers of the first month of the year still bring feelings of confidence and hope for a stronger recovery this year. There are still problems that seafood exporters have to face such as oversupply, high inventory, low purchasing prices, and pressure. great competition..., but we can hope that in the second half of the year, selling prices will be better when inventories decrease and market demand recovers. New challenges such as Red Sea tensions causing increased freight rates, IUU "yellow cards" and anti-subsidy taxes will make it difficult for businesses, but with the courage to overcome difficulties, market experience and flexibility, acumen, businesses will turn risks into opportunities, exploit and develop products and markets suitable for the new context.
According to VASEP, some developments such as the US and EU banning Russian seafood, making China the target market for Russian enterprises, more or less reduced the market share of other countries in this market. Or China's ban on importing Japanese seafood or the US and EU warning about the issue of forced labor at Chinese processing factories are the factors that push Japanese, American and European businesses to look for partners in Vietnam. In addition, we also have other market opportunities, such as market segmentation for dry goods and canned goods in areas affected by war, high inflation or opportunities in closer markets such as ASEAN countries, minimizing damage due to increased transportation costs...
"With the flexibility and adaptation of seafood enterprises, it is hoped that in 2024, seafood exports will be higher than in 2023, possibly reaching the 9.5 billion USD mark," a VASEP representative predicted.
Regarding wooden products, Mr. Do Xuan Lap, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Wood and Forest Products (VIFOREST), commented: "Currently, the issue of sea freight rates has cooled down, the freight for a 40-foot container from Vietnam to Europe is only 3,786 USD, although still very high compared to previous years, it has decreased compared to January. With favorable export results from the beginning of the year, our industry strives for a total export turnover of 17.5 billion USD. USD, of which wood and wood products reach 16 billion USD, an increase of 20% compared to 2023 and returning to the highest mark of 2022."
The representative of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association was also optimistic when he commented: "The market supply is lacking, so this is an advantage for domestic exporters. In addition, the EU's inclusion of coffee in the category of having to meet the Anti-Deforestation Regulations (EUDR) from mid-2023 is also a factor affecting the price of this agricultural product when many countries have not yet met it. Therefore, Vietnamese coffee continues to benefit in price. More importantly, Vietnam is a producing country and 1 Robusta supplier in the world for many years. The whole world has become accustomed to buying Vietnamese Robusta coffee and recently many coffee roasting and processing corporations in the world have changed their roasting formula with the majority of ingredients being Vietnamese Robusta, partly because consumer tastes have changed and on the other hand, it also helps reduce product costs.
With this situation, many experts from the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association forecast that coffee exports could reach 4.5 - 5 billion USD in 2024. This will be the year of a new record for Vietnam's coffee export turnover.
Maintaining a stable performance from 2023, fruit and vegetable products are increasingly growing thanks to penetrating the Chinese market and expanding to many other demanding markets. Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, affirmed: "Durian products are the most important. With the Protocol signed between Vietnam and China, durian exports will bring in 3.5 billion USD this year. In particular, coconut fruit promises a turnover of 500 - 600 million USD if the Protocol is signed. Along with other key products such as dragon fruit, grapefruit, banana, passion fruit, mango..., fruit and vegetable exports in 2024 will reach a turnover value of at least 6.5 billion USD, even up to 7 billion USD, which is a record high ever."
Ha Diem HSV