Export turnover: Textiles and wood chips continue to grow

(Baonghean) - In the first 10 months of 2015, there were 195 enterprises participating in import-export activities in the province. Of which, the export of goods in October is estimated to increase by about 46.5 million USD, raising the export turnover of goods in the first 10 months of the year to 368 million USD, an increase of 14.3% compared to the same period last year...

Textiles and wood chips continue to lead

Among many enterprises participating in export activities, there are 51 enterprises with export turnover of 1 million USD or more and 21 enterprises with export turnover of 3 million USD or more. Some export enterprises with good export turnover are Thanh Thanh Dat Co., Ltd. leading mainly in wood chips; Prex Vinh Co., Ltd. with mainly processed clothing products; BSE Vietnam Electronics Co., Ltd. mainly in mobile phone speakers; Economic Cooperation Corporation One Member Co., Ltd., Nghe An Import-Export Joint Stock Company with cassava starch products.

Produced at Hoang Thi Loan Textile Joint Stock Company.

Enterprises in the province have exported over 30 items (groups of items) to foreign markets. Textile and garment products continued to be in the leading position with 75.73 million USD in turnover in the first 10 months, an increase of 30% over the same period last year, accounting for 21.1% of the total turnover of goods in the province. The item had the participation of 8 enterprises in export, of which, Prex Vinh Company Limited achieved the largest export turnover with over 30 million USD. Mr. Tran Duc Long - Chief Accountant of the Company said that the goods were exported to many markets such as: Korea, China, Japan, USA, Germany, ... Currently, the enterprise is focusing on making orders for sportswear to export to Korea at the end of November.

Or the exported wood chip products were over 500,000 tons, earning 68.43 million USD, up 28% in volume and 33% in turnover compared to the same period in 2014. Currently, Nghe An's wood chip products are mainly exported to the Chinese market with 2 participating enterprises: Thanh Thanh Dat Company Limited with 60 million USD, LD Company for growing and processing paper materials with over 9 million USD. For cassava and cassava starch - one of the traditional export products of enterprises in the province, exports from the beginning of the year to date have reached 792,000 tons, turnover of 42.1 million USD, up 6.8% compared to the same period in 2014. The goods are mainly exported to the Chinese market with 8 participating enterprises, of which, Import-Export Joint Stock Company has the largest export turnover, reaching over 11 million USD.

Agricultural products are not out of trouble yet.

The most difficult problem at present is the export of agricultural and aquatic products. Despite the potential and advantages, Nghe An's export turnover is small and unsustainable, and so far, there has been no strong enough solution to create a boost for this product; there is no close connection between production, processing and market. According to statistics compiled by the Department of Industry and Trade, in 2013, the export turnover of aquatic products reached 22 million USD. In 2014, the turnover of this item decreased sharply, reaching only 10 million USD. In the first 10 months of 2015, the export turnover of aquatic products in the province reached over 13 million USD, of which, Xuri Viet Trung Aquatic Products Processing and Distribution Company Limited with nearly 13 million USD, the remaining small amount was carried out by Phuong Mai Enterprise (Hoang Mai Town).

Packing export goods at Duc Phong Company Limited (Vinh City).

Mr. Le Thai, Director of Xuri Viet Trung Seafood Processing Company Limited, said that since September, after the fluctuation of the Chinese Yuan exchange rate, the price has improved to 1,800 USD/ton CIF, and is expected to be higher in November. However, the current difficulty is the lack of raw materials, having to purchase from Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Thanh Hoa, etc. but still not meeting the orders. In addition, Mr. Thai also frankly admitted that, in fact, the province's seafood products are dependent on the Chinese market, not yet exported to the EU, US, and Japanese markets, etc. because these markets have strict requirements in controlling chemical residues, food hygiene and safety, preservation techniques, etc., while seafood businesses are all small businesses, with weak production, processing, and preservation machinery and equipment.

For handicrafts - one of the products that Nghe An has potential in terms of raw materials and labor, but is currently facing difficulties, with low export turnover. Small business scale and weak competitiveness are challenges for many handicraft enterprises in the province. Meanwhile, the labor force in the bamboo and rattan weaving industry is increasingly shrinking, competing with other industries. Many female workers in rural areas who used to work in bamboo and rattan weaving have now switched to working for garment factories. There are few young workers, mainly middle-aged people; raw materials tend to be depleted due to overexploitation without regeneration. Processing technology is backward, mainly manual, and expensive, making it difficult to compete. Only a few enterprises have imported some simple machines from China such as bamboo presses and bamboo rollers.

Ms. Vo Thi An, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade, said that this year, the export turnover target is 550 million USD. From now until the end of the year, export activities will face many challenges due to the decrease in prices of many agricultural and mineral products. Meanwhile, we still have to import a lot of raw materials and fuels for production and export, so we are very passive and dependent on many external fluctuations... In the coming time, export growth will mainly be in groups of products produced by FDI enterprises, products that rely on cheap labor and processing, and raw processing rather than products with high added value such as textiles and wood chips. To achieve the export turnover target this year, it is necessary to focus on rapidly increasing the proportion of agricultural product export value, while minimizing raw exports, increasing the content of processed products, creating conditions for businesses to build raw material areas to meet production needs, serving exports...

Thu Huyen