Agriculture export drop’s sting in the tail

VietNamNet Bridge - The reduction in exports of major natural and agricultural products will result in a decline in the country’s export revenue in the last two months of 2008.

The Vietnam Industry and Trade Information Centre (VITIC) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) estimated that Vietnam would earn $9.4 billion from exports in the last two months of 2008, down 1.3 per cent against the same period last year.

The value of oil and mineral product shipments is predicted to fall by 28.7 per cent on-year to $1.47 billion, of which crude oil export revenue is expected to decline by 33.25 per cent on-year to $1.25 billion.

Low global prices and demand are said to be the major reasons behind the reduction in Vietnamese farming exports in November and December.

The VITIC said Vietnam would export 180,000 tonnes of coffee worth $275 million in the period, down 16.7 per cent in volume and 25.8 per cent in value year-on-year. The average export price of the Vietnamese coffee stood at around $1,528 per tonne, 10.7 per cent lower than the same period last year and 27.2 per cent lower than the average price recorded in the first 10 months of this year.

Rubber export is also predicted to fall 14.8 per cent in quantity and 20.5 per cent in quality to 125,000 tonnes and $250 million. Vietnamese exporters are, meanwhile, forecast to ship 700,000 tonnes of rice worth $287 million, 26,000 tonnes of cashews worth $143 million and $780 million worth of fishery products.

Exports of other major manufacturing products such as garments and textiles and footwear, although being negatively hit by the global economic turmoil, are expected to remain stable in the last two months of 2008 with earnings from apparel shipments expected to hit $1.41 billion.

Deputy general director of the Vietnam Garment and Textile Group (Vinatex), Le Tien Truong, said it had still received ordered from foreign buyers, including those from the US, for the November-December period.

“They are mostly small orders,” Truong said. “It is anyway good [for us] in such circumstances when global economic growth is falling and the purchasing power of international clients is declining.”

“Although the garment industry will see no more growth in exports in the last two months of the year [against the same period last year], we will be able to gain a 18 per cent increase in export revenue for the whole year,” he said.

The Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association predicted that Vietnam’s footwear export value will be around $660 million during November-December with high demand from Australia, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Brazil and Argentina.

The association said footwear export revenue for the whole year would be around $4.4 billion, lower than the targeted $4.5 billion. MoIT Minister Vu Huy Hoang said in order to maintain the pace of exports this year and also for the next year, the ministry would pay higher focus in trade promotion and fully take advantage of the free trade agreements that Vietnam had signed.

He stressed on the need for enterprises to increase their goods quality and make price more competitive to keep their traditional market share and expand to other markets.

(Source: VIR)