vietnam agricultural export revenue

Export revenue from the agricultural sector has surpassed US$30 billion for the first time, reaching US$30.8 billion in 2014, up 11.2% from the previous year with many commodities posting strong growth compared with 2013.

Year of records

Coffee was up 32.2%, cashew nut 21.1%, pepper 34.1% and vegetables 34.9%, to name a few. Ten agricultural commodities in total saw revenues exceeding US$1 billion in 2014. In addition to growth of traditional exports such as seafood, timber, coffee and cashew, the sector saw many new goods joining the US$1 billion club for the first time such as vegetables and pepper. In 2014 Vietnam’s agricultural exports continued to face technical barriers from strict markets. Two lots of Vietnamese fruit and vegetable bound for the EU were found to contain worms, risking a ban on Vietnamese exporters. At the same time, tuna exported to the United States were returned after they were found to contain bacteria such as E. Coli and Salmonella. But in the fourth quarter of 2014, there was good news when Russia decided to lift the ban on seafood from seven Vietnamese exporters. Later the US Department of Agriculture allowed the import of Vietnam’s longan and lychee. And in December, the first lot of shipment of longan was exported to the US while negotiations are underway for more lychee exports in 2015.

With these positive signs, the agricultural sector has set a growth target of between 3% and 3.5% for 2015, to reach around US$32 billion. The difference between US$30.8 billion and US$32 billion is not large but if this target is to be met, it will require a drastic change in market regulation, export regulation and greater efforts from agricultural enterprises.