February 2, 2012

Vietnam's agricultural exports down 16.3% in January

Due to the global economic difficulties, export turnover in January from agricultural, forestry and seafood products fell by 16.3% compared to the same period last year to about US$1.8 billion, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Agricultural products made up US$1.1 billion of the total, down 19%, while seafood and forestry products contributed US$370 million and US$300 million, down 13.3% and 18.2%, respectively.

Director of the ministry's Centre for Information and Statistics Nguyen Viet Chien said that export value for all of the country's key agricultural products decreased in January.

Last month, the country exported only 400,000 tonnes of rice worth US$240 million, down 25.4% in volume and 14.2% in value, Chien said, adding that besides the prolonged global economic difficulties, domestic rice businesses also failed to win new export contracts due to higher prices compared to their Indian and Pakistani counterparts.