Export of agricultural products: In the first month of the year, many items have high growth

Bright spot from the Chinese market

Right in the first month of 2023, agricultural exports showed signs of improvement. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung, General Director of Vina T&T Group said, fresh fruit export orders in January recorded a growth of 30% over the same period last year. Traditional products maintain stable orders. Notably, pomelos exported to the US and durians to China contributed to this growth.

Even new items joining the official export race have additional orders by day. “One is due to market demand, purchasing power in Europe and the US is recovering faster than forecasted until the end of the second quarter of 2023. Meanwhile, fresh fruit products consume fast, so for New orders are placed daily, especially from the Chinese market,” said Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung.

According to Mr. Le Ba Anh, Deputy Director of the Department of Quality Management of Agro-Forestry, Forestry and Fisheries (MARD), the opening of China’s borders and the removal of the “Zero COVID” policy from January 8, 2023 The main beneficiaries are fresh agricultural products.

“High-value fresh goods, such as crabs, lobsters, black tiger shrimp and white-leg shrimp, are almost exclusively exported by road, but during the period of China’s control of the ‘Zero COVID’ epidemic, the border gate was congested, no exports were allowed. So when they open for trade, customs clearance of these items is more convenient. Second, the consumption power of the market of 1.4 billion people has been suppressed for nearly 3 years, now they reopen the restaurant. demand for fresh seafood will increase sharply,” said Mr. Le Ba Anh.

As an example of this opportunity, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hai, General Director of Hacaseafood Seafood Joint Stock Company, said that in January, the company had nearly 200 containers of goods exported to the Chinese market to serve the Lunar New Year.

The reopening of China’s borders is considered a bright spot for our country’s agricultural exports in 2023 because a market of 1.4 billion people accounts for more than 17% of the industry’s export turnover.

High export price of rice, farmers have more motivation to expand acreage

While the fresh produce industries take advantage of geographical advantages to sharply increase export orders to China, many agricultural products with high economic value continue to reach out to difficult markets, typically rice.

Last year, the fact that ST25 rice was officially imported and sold in supermarkets in Japan, the Middle East and Europe, even branded rice from Vietnam was selected to be put into the kitchen of the Japanese Cabinet. evidence shows the shift from the production mindset to the quality of the agricultural sector.

Not only licensed to import officially but also Vietnamese brand rice sold at a very high price. Pham Thai Binh, General Director of Trung An High-tech Agriculture Joint Stock Company, said that last year, the price of fragrant rice exported to the Middle East and Europe reached an average of $650/ton, especially for ST24 rice. , ST25 is priced at over 1,000 USD/ton. This is the high export price for rice for many years.

Affirming the brand in difficult markets has created momentum for Vietnamese rice in the early days of 2023. For example, Trung An Company has signed many contracts to supply rice for delivery from now until the beginning of the second quarter of 2023 to customers. Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Europe, Australia and the US market, the quantity is up to nearly 1,500 containers, equivalent to about 30,000 tons, mainly high quality rice and fragrant rice.

“The demand for high-quality and safe rice by domestic and international consumers is very high today. Therefore, I believe that in 2023, Vietnam’s rice exports will continue to grow in both quality and quantity. The export price of rice in early 2023 is very high, we sell it for 600-1,250 USD/ton, even 100% broken rice sells for up to 468 USD/ton,” said Mr. Pham Thai Binh. Good news and believe that in 2023, rice exporting enterprises will win big.

Mr. Do Ha Nam, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Food Association, said that rice prices are usually very low at the end of the season, so importers base on that price to negotiate to buy the winter-spring crop. However, this year, at the end of the crop, we can sell at a high price, so the contracts signed for the winter-spring crop in 2023 will have better prices. More importantly, when the price of rice increases, farmers have more motivation to expand the area, improve productivity and quality.

More challenges

Entering the new year, along with opportunities from the market, the export of agricultural products of our country is forecasted to still have many challenges.

Truong Dinh Hoe, General Secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), said that Vietnamese businesses can take advantage of geographical advantages, low transportation costs, high demand, and high demand. … to promote seafood exports to the Chinese market.

However, the Chinese market is no longer an easy market, the standards are getting more and more difficult, especially there are very unexpected regulations and adjustments for imported seafood. Therefore, Vietnamese businesses must change their attitudes and attitudes, gain deeper access to the Chinese market, and develop detailed strategies for each local segment if they want to increase their share in this market.

Mr. Pham Thai Binh said that the problem of cooperation and solidarity among businesses in the same industry is still weak. As for the situation of “household chickens fighting each other”, the country’s agriculture is difficult to reach.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien recommended that in any market, Vietnamese agricultural products must develop a competitive strategy in terms of quality, price and brand.

Therefore, what needs to be done immediately with domestic agricultural production is to focus on production and upgrade the quality of all agricultural products according to the standards of fastidious markets. One of the mandatory requirements is traceability.

Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien emphasized that the planting area code, farming pond, processing and packing facilities must be confirmed. Linking to form growing areas, ensuring that the number of growing areas is large enough and products are stably supplied to the market in terms of both quality and output. The process of Global GAP, VietGAP is strictly implemented from seed and seedling. Expand bilateral trade relations, towards official export, large-scale commodity production.

By doing this, Vietnamese agricultural products will have the opportunity to maintain their foothold and market share, increasing their competitiveness in the global market as well as at home.