Export growth of fruit and vegetable this year is less than a quarter of the previous year

The export of Vietnamese fruit and vegetable has a lot of potential for development. Source: Internet

According to the Agro Processing and Market Development Authority (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), in the first 11 months, fruit and vegetable export value was estimated at $US 3.5 billion, increased by 11.6% over the same period last year.

China still ranks first for Vietnam's fruit and vegetable imports in the first 10 months with 73.8% of market share. The export value of vegetables and fruits reached $US 2.41 billion, increased by 11.3% over the same period of 2017.

Besides China, in the first 10 months of the year other markets have increased sharply in the export value of fruit and vegetable. Exports were to: Australia (increased by 36.8%), United States (increased by 34.7%), Thailand (increased by 32.4% ), South Korea (increased by 28.7%).

In the domestic market, November was the time of harvesting many types of citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruits, mandarins in many provinces across the country. Moreover, with the favorable weather conditions this year, the yield of citrus fruits has increased over the previous year.

In the Mekong Delta area, the price of pomelo decreased sharply. The current price of buying at orchard to collect pomelo type 1 (beautiful form, weight from 1.4-1.8 kg/fruit) was 32,000 VND/kg - 35,000 VND/kg, type 2 was from 20,000 - 23,000 VND/kg which decreased more than 50% compared with 2 months ago.

Price of Pomelo reduced due to many reasons such as unqualified pomelo; The Chinese market also has pomelo so it limited the purchase of Vietnam fruit. Besides that, pomelo is also competing with some other citrus fruits such as oranges and mandarins, which are also at low prices. The price of oranges in the Mekong Delta continuously decreases. Currently, the price here is only 3,000 - 4,000 VND/kg.

Remarkably, in Tien Giang, the harvesting season for durians started, however, they are facing difficulties in terms of output due to not being officially exported to China.

With those difficulties from the Chinese market, the Agro Processing and Market Development Authority forecasted that the export value of vegetables and fruits in 2018 will grow by about 10% over the previous year, which is much lower than the figure of 42.4% in 2017.

In the long run, many experts commented that the export potential of Vietnamese vegetables and fruits is still very high, especially in the context of Vietnam's increasingly deep involvement in Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). If the export of vegetables and fruits is accelerated, the figure of $US 10 billion by 2025 is "in hand" and can be fully reached. However, in order to achieve that target, investing in processing will be an important breakthrough.