(VAN) China, the USA and Japan continue to be the top 3 export markets of Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery products in 2023.

Statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development show that Vietnam’s export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products in August 2023 reached USD 4.36 billion, down 6.5% over the last period.

To sum up the first eight months of 2023, the value of many main export products experienced a decrease compared to the same period last year. The total export turnover is estimated at USD 33.21 billion, down 9.5%.

The fishery product group reaches USD 5.68 billion, down 25.4%; forestry products USD 8.95 billion, down 25.1%; production inputs USD 1.32 billion, down 21.9%. There are some groups of products with increased export value, such as agricultural products with USD 16.9 billion, up 11.5%; livestock products USD 325 million, up 26.1%.

Regarding the market in the first 8 months of 2023, China, the USA and Japan continued to remain the three largest export markets of Vietnam’s agricultural, forestry and fishery products. Export value to China accounts for 21.9%, up 9.8%. Export to the USA accounts for 20.6%, down 27.4%. As for Japan, the market share is 7.6%, down 10.6%.

In terms of prices, there were generally no abnormal fluctuations in August, and the supply of essential items was guaranteed. Particularly, the price of rice continues to increase by VND 200 - 800/kg as the impact of the world market leads to an increase in consumption demands.

Live hog prices tend to decrease slightly, averaging VND 1,000 - 2,000/kg. The purchase price of raw shrimp continues to be low and tends to decrease at VND 10,000/kg. However, the price of fruit in some southern provinces witnessed an uptrend due to a decrease in supply when the main season was over.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development assesses that the production and business of agricultural, forestry and fishery products in the first eight months of 2023 are basically stable, closely aligned with the development of the agricultural and rural economy. Food security and safety are guaranteed, contributing to stabilizing the macro-economy, thus ensuring major balances of the country’s economy.

The agricultural sector has drastically removed obstacles and further opened the market for Vietnamese agricultural products, even at strict markets, promoted the signing of new orders, and strengthened cooperation in negotiations to diversify agricultural products qualified for export to many markets through official routes.

Many agro-forestry-fishery production models have been established and developed in line with industry value chains, integrating multi-values. The quality and efficiency of agricultural cooperatives have shown significant improvements. Many farms and business households have converted to establish new businesses with higher scale and efficiency.

37% of agricultural, forestry and fishery output is produced and consumed in the form of value chain linkages associated with product consumption markets. The number of communes and districts meeting new rural standards has increased. More and more products meeting OCOP standards have shown up in markets and supermarket chains.

Apart from the positive achievements, the industry still poses certain shortcomings. The total export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products in the first 8 months of 2023 still suffers a decrease by 9.5% compared to the same period last year because of the steep decline during the first months of the year. Agro-forestry-fishery processing industry, especially in the stages of preservation and deep processing, has not yet shown strong developments. It is also the case for other supporting industries.

Cooperatives still face difficulties in transparency management of production and business activities. Their role as the connection between farmers and businesses has not been well promoted. The number of enterprises participating in association contracts to consume agricultural products for cooperatives is low in quantity and small in scale. Value link chains are still limited in terms of maintaining sustainable development.

In the near future, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will continue to monitor and grasp the situation of prices on the market as well as the supply of essential food products and report to the Domestic Market Executive Team and the Government's Price Management Committee. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will also coordinate with localities to support connection, promote processing and consumption of agricultural products in the harvest season.

The development of domestic consumption and export markets will receive more push from the agricultural sector. Market issues will be resolved accordingly in order to create favorable conditions for the export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products, especially to China, the USA, the EU, and the Eurasian economic union.

The agricultural industry aims to make full use of FTAs, especially the CPTPP and EVFTA, to promote the export of key agricultural, forestry and fishery products, and support enterprises to sign new export orders, protect trademarks and geographical indications for potential export products of Vietnam abroad.

Author: Hong Tham
Translated by Samuel Pham