In 2015, agricultural, forestry and fishery exports decreased by 0.8%.

According to figures recently released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products in 2015 reached 30.14 billion USD, down 0.8% compared to the same period in 2014.

In 2015, coffee export turnover decreased the most among the main agricultural products. (Photo: MP).

Of which, the export value of major agricultural products is estimated at 13.95 billion USD, down 2.6% compared to the same period in 2014, with a sharp decrease in items such as coffee, rubber, tea and rice. Specifically, for coffee, coffee exports in 2015 are estimated at 1.28 million tons with a total value of 2.56 billion USD, down 24.6% in volume and down 28.1% in value compared to the same period in 2014.

Although rubber exports increased in volume, they had the second largest decrease in value. Rubber exports increased by 6.1% in volume but decreased by 14.4% in value compared to the same period last year. The average rubber price in the first 11 months of 2015 reached 1,377 USD/ton, down 18.74% compared to the same period in 2014. The value of rubber exports in the first 11 months of 2015 in 10 major markets of Vietnam all decreased compared to the same period in 2014.

The tea industry also saw a decline in both volume and value, down 6.8% and 7.4% respectively.

Although the rice industry increased by 5.8% in volume, it decreased by 2.9% in value compared to the same period in 2014.

Among the agricultural products, the only bright spot is the cashew industry. Accordingly, cashew exports in 2015 reached 328 thousand tons with 2.39 billion USD, up 8.3% in volume and 20.2% in value compared to the same period last year.

Always accounting for a high proportion in agricultural exports, this year seafood exports in December 2015 were only estimated at 531 million USD, bringing the export value in 2015 to 6.53 billion USD, down 16.5% compared to the same period in 2014. The United States remains the leading import market for Vietnamese seafood, accounting for 19.96% of total export value. Exports to Japan and South Korea also decreased significantly with decreases of 13.87% and 13.66% respectively. Exports grew notably in markets such as Thailand (up 18.42%), the UK (up 8.57%) and China (up 4.33%).

Forestry products still maintained a stable growth rate. The estimated export value of wood and wood products in December 2015 reached 629 million USD, bringing the export value in 2015 to 6.77 billion USD, up 8.7% over the same period in 2014. The United States, Japan and China – the three largest import markets of Vietnam accounted for 67.46% of the total export value.

Also according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the total import value of the industry in the 12 months of 2015 is estimated at 23.05 billion USD, an increase of 5.5% compared to the same period in 2014. Thus, in the whole year of 2015, the entire agricultural sector had a trade surplus of 7.09 billion USD./.

According to the Communist Party of Vietnam