Agro-forestry-fishery sector gained a trade surplus of US$ 3.3 billion in the first eight months of 2021, representing a year-on-year decline of 48.2%, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The MARD reported that in August, agro-forestry-fishery export turnover valued nearly US$ 3.4 billion, down 21.6% against the same period last year and 22% against the previous month. 

In the first eight months of 2021, overseas shipment of agro-forestry-fishery products was estimated at US$ 32.1 billion, up 21.6% while import value was estimated at US$ 28.8 billion, up 44.1%. 

In August, only three items witnessed export turnover increase, namely cassava and cassava products (up 26.6%), cereal products (up 1%), milk and dairy products (up 0.8%). 

Furniture, catfish and shrimps, fruits and vegetables, fertilizers, and pepper experienced sharp declines by 50%, 30%, 26%, 24% and 21.5%, respectively.

The COVID-19 pandemic was the reason behind weak performance of export-oriented production and processing enterprises as a large number of them reported that they operated at 30-40% capacity or even were forced to shut down due to coronavirus infections. 

The U.S. was the biggest importer of Vietnamese agro-forestry-fishery products with over US$ 9.3 billion, accounting for 29.1% of the total export volume, followed by China with US$ 6.1 billion./.