HÀ NỘI — The export value of agricultural, forestry and fishery products in January is estimated to witness a year-on-year decrease of 1.4 per cent to US$2.54 billion.

This was stated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Major farming products saw a year-on-year reduction of 1.7 per cent to $1.2 billion and seafood export value reached $518 million, down five per cent against the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the local forestry industry saw a year-on-year increase of 2.1 per cent in export value to $652 million in January. Also in January, Việt Nam saw a strong reduction in both rice export volume and value. Exports dropped by 32 per cent in volume to 325 tonnes of rice and by 35.1 per cent in value to $136 million compared with the same period last year, the ministry said.

Huỳnh Thế Năng, chairman of the Việt Nam Food Association, said the rice industry would face more difficulties this year.

The association said in 2016, China was the largest rice importer of Việt Nam, purchasing 1.74 million tonnes of rice worth $782.3 million, representing a yearly decline of 17.5 per cent and 8.6 per cent in volume and value, respectively.Other major rice importers in ASEAN such as the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia also witnessed strong reduction of 64.1 per cent, 45.5 per cent and 51.8 per cent, respectively.The local coffee industry did not maintain its growth of last year in the first month of this year, with the industry witnessing a fall in export volume and value in January. Exports dropped by 25.5 per cent in volume to 127,000 tonnes and 3.6 per cent in value to $287 million against the same period last year.Strong declines were also recorded in the export value of other farm products, such as tea, cashew nut, pepper and cassava.The country earned $16 million from exporting 11,000 tonnes of tea in the period, reducing by 3.6 per cent in volume and 8.6 per cent in value compared with January last year. The export of cashew nut saw a sharp decrease of 20 per cent in volume but just a slight drop of 4.4 per cent in value due to the high level of export price.

Việt Nam witnessed strong reduction in pepper exports by 18.3 per cent in volume to 8,000 tonnes and 37 per cent in value to $56 million year-on-year.Rubber was the only product which maintained stable export growth, with $193 million earned from shipments of 102,000 tonnes, 84.8 per cent in value and 10.5 per cent in volume from the same period last year. — VNS