Preparing durian for export in Dak Lak Province. (Photo: Cong Ly)

The data for the first ten months of 2024 shows that the agricultural sector’s trade surplus reached 15.21 billion USD, an increase of 62.2% compared to the same period last year. Six export groups achieved a trade surplus of over 1 billion USD, namely timber and timber products (10.91 billion USD), fruit and vegetables (4.47 billion USD), coffee (4.33 billion USD), rice (3.68 billion USD), shrimp (2.92 billion USD), and shark catfish (1.54 billion USD).

Growth across most sectors

Dang Phuc Nguyen, Secretary General of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, stated that with these results and favourable export conditions at the end of the year due to high demand in many markets, fruit and vegetable export turnover may exceed recent forecasts and is likely to reach a new record of over 7 billion USD.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), Vietnam’s seafood exports in October 2024 were estimated at over 1 billion USD, up 28% compared to the same period in 2023. This is the first time in over two years (since June 2022) that seafood exports have returned to the 1 billion USD per month mark. Shrimp and shark catfish were the two best performers.

As of the end of October 2024, shrimp exports reached over 3.2 billion USD, up 13%, while shark catfish exports hit nearly 1.7 billion USD, up 10%. A favourable factor for Vietnam’s shrimp industry was that, in October, the US Department of Commerce announced preliminary countervailing duty (CVD) rates for imported shrimp from Ecuador, India and Vietnam, in which the rate for Vietnamese shrimp is 2.84%, significantly lower than 4.36% for India and 7.55% for Ecuador. This provides an important competitive advantage for Vietnamese shrimp in the US market.

According to Le Hang, Director of Communication at VASEP, thanks to increased demand from key markets, Vietnam’s seafood exports registered impressive growth in October 2024. In particular, exports to China and Hong Kong surged by 37% while exports to the US increased by 31%, Japan by 22%, EU by 27%, and the Republic of Korea by 13%.

In addition to the two strong performers of fruit and vegetables and seafood, coffee was also one of the products with significant growth over the past ten months. According to the Export-Import Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in the first ten months of 2024, Vietnam exported 1.157 million tons of coffee worth nearly 4.6 billion USD, down 10.8% in volume but up 40.1% in value compared to the same period last year.

It is forecast that Vietnam’s coffee export volume will recover in the coming months as the country enters the new 2024-2025 crop season and demand increases towards the end of the year.

Revenue from coffee exports to most continents has increased, and all coffee varieties have recorded double-digit growth compared to the same period in 2023. In addition to major markets like the EU, US and Japan, China has also been increasing its imports of Vietnamese coffee.

Processing plums for export to Japan. (Photo: Huong Lan)

Focus on markets with advantage

Over the past 10 months, Asia was the largest export market for Vietnam’s agricultural goods, with a market share of 48.2%, followed by the Americas and Europe, with 23.5% and 11.5%, respectively. Compared to the same period last year, the estimated value of Vietnam’s agricultural exports to Asia increased by 17.2%, to the Americas by 24.7%, to Europe by 34.1%, to Africa by 2%, and to Oceania by 14.5%.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, China will remain a key export market for many of Vietnam’s main agricultural products in the coming months. For the fruit and vegetable sector, the signing of the protocols on phytosanitary requirements and food safety for frozen durian exports from Vietnam to China as well as for fresh coconut exports from Vietnam to China provides a great opportunity for Vietnamese businesses.

According to the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency under the MOIT, in early November, as part of the National Trade Promotion Programme for 2024, the agency organised a delegation of Vietnamese enterprises to participate in the 7th China International Import Expo (CIIE 2024). In addition to the national pavilion, there was a commercial exhibition area for Vietnamese enterprises with a total display area of 600 square meters, featuring 50 companies from the food and processed agricultural products sectors, many of which have strong export capabilities and reputable brands such as TH True Milk, Trung Nguyen Coffee, Phu Quoc Pepper Joint Stock Company, and Ben Tre Import-Export Joint Stock Company. The event was an opportunity for enterprises to increase exports to the Chinese market via official channels in a sustainable manner.

According to Phung Duc Tien, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, in addition to traditional markets, the agriculture sector has worked to exploit new potential markets since the beginning of 2024, including the Halal food market for Muslim consumers. Most recently, the Vietnam-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) was signed, opening opportunities to increase exports to the UAE.

Specifically, Vietnam is currently one of the three largest suppliers of tuna to the UAE, with export value up from 1.6 million USD in 2019 to nearly 4 million USD in 2023, a 139% increase over 5 years. Vietnam is also the largest supplier of shark catfish to the UAE, accounting for 40-50% of its market. In addition, the UAE is one of the three largest importers of Vietnamese pepper.

In addition, to attract import partners for Vietnam’s agricultural goods, the MOIT is organising the Vietnam International Food Industry Expo (Vietnam Foodexpo 2024) from November 13 to 16, 2024. The event will feature over 500 booths from nearly 400 enterprises from over 30 provinces and cities of Vietnam, as well as nearly 20 other countries and territories.