Good news for the economy at the end of the year

Workers of Phuc Sinh Joint Stock Company ( Binh Duong ) load packaging into containers to take to the export port - Photo: QUANG DINH

Rice, coffee, vegetables, pepper, etc. were exported this year at skyrocketing prices, bringing the export turnover of agricultural products to a new milestone.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development , in the past 10 months, the total export turnover of the agricultural sector brought in nearly 52 billion USD, an increase of more than 20% over the same period last year. It is forecasted that agricultural export turnover could reach 62 billion USD this year, a record number so far.

Durian and coffee growers are happier during Tet

After nearly 5 years of growing durian, Mr. Nguyen Muoi's family ( Tien Giang province) has never been as excited as in 2024.

Mr. Muoi said that the main durian season in the West is April and May. “That season, I “scooped up” quite a bit and saved it in the bank.

There is little investment left for re-cultivation. Now the West has off-season durian, and traders have placed orders in early September.

There are more than 100 Musang King and Ri6 durian trees, traders come and go continuously. The price of durian has increased, not only me but also durian growers are very happy" - Mr. Muoi shared.

If Mr. Muoi harvested nearly 40 tons of durian in the main season, with a price of 120,000 VND/kg, after deducting all expenses, the profit was nearly 4 billion VND. For off-season durian, Mr. Muoi said the harvest yield was about 1/3 of the main season but the current price is 140,000 - 150,000 VND/kg, so he could make an additional profit of 2 billion VND.

Ms. Bui Thi Cham, director of Truong Tho 2A Fruit Garden Cooperative (in Can Tho City), said that countries have increased their durian imports, especially China, so durian output and price have increased sharply.

“This year, the price of durian sold at the garden is the highest ever. Therefore, durian growers have made a big profit. In particular, households with off-season durian have made huge profits, sometimes double,” said Ms. Cham.

In addition to durian, coffee also had an unprecedented 10-month record of export. Ms. Pham Thi Thuong (Dak Nong province) has nearly 15 hectares of coffee. In the last two seasons, Ms. Thuong said that coffee had a good harvest and good prices.

“Compared to the 2022 crop, both prices and output are sluggish. But the 2023 and 2024 coffee seasons will be good, yielding about 3.5 - 3.8 tons/ha. The selling price at times is nearly 126,000 VND/kg. After deducting costs, coffee growers can earn a profit of more than 350 million VND per hectare. Traders come and go continuously. Farmers have a good harvest and are excited to have money,” Ms. Thuong shared.

Meanwhile, rice farmers in the Mekong Delta continue to be “ecstatic” when rice prices are high. Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu, a rice farmer in Dong Thap province, said about her income: “The price of autumn-winter rice fluctuates from 7,500 to 7,800 VND/kg. We will earn more than 30 million VND/ha after deducting expenses. Compared to the main summer-autumn crop, this is very stable.”

According to the leader of the Vietnam Food Association, 2024 is the year when rice farmers can sell all three crops at a good price thanks to a favorable export market and high prices.

Even pepper growers were surprised by the price increase of this product. Ms. Pham Thi Tuong Van, a pepper grower in Xuan Loc district (Dong Nai province), shared: “At the beginning of 2024, pepper only cost 60,000 - 70,000 VND/kg, but at times it went up to 180,000 VND.

Although the current price of 144,000 VND/kg is still very high, pepper growers have never witnessed such a terrible increase. Farmers have profited and are bold in investing. I have planted nearly 2 more hectares of pepper because I believe in the world's demand as well as domestic demand."

In 10 months, pepper export turnover reached 1.12 billion USD, an increase of more than 48% over the same period last year, with an average export price of 5,084 USD/ton, an increase of 51.7%.

In the first 10 months of 2024, agricultural, forestry and fishery exports will bring in nearly 52 billion USD - Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development - Data: THAO THUONG - Graphics: N.KH.

Continue to expand the market

According to the leader of a business in the top 20 Vietnamese pepper exporting enterprises, in addition to key markets such as the US, China, Japan, and the EU, it is necessary to promote agricultural exports to the Middle East, Africa, and South America.

“Businesses always need support in trade promotion, finding import partners, removing barriers set by countries and increasing official exports to reduce risks.

The world's demand for Vietnamese agricultural products is always increasing, so we must focus on building brands for agricultural products to ensure sustainable exports, create trust with world consumers and sustainably participate in the global value chain," the business leader said.

As for seafood, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) is accelerating in the last months of the year to achieve the export target of 2 billion USD (an increase compared to 2023 of 1.8 billion USD).

This association believes that the favorable time ahead is when the US market grows well and recently the US Department of Agriculture announced that it will buy more seafood, including catfish products.

“Vietnam still has to boost exports to the Middle East, China, EU markets… in addition to traditional markets,” said Mr. Truong Dinh Hoe – General Secretary of VASEP.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that Vietnam recently signed three more protocols on exporting coconuts, frozen durian and crocodiles.

The ministry is currently coordinating with localities and businesses to promote the export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products in the last two months of the year to continue increasing export turnover.

“The export target for the whole year of 2024 assigned by the Government is 54 to 55 billion USD. For the remaining months of November and December, if each month exports only reach 5.5 billion USD, the whole year of 2024 exports are likely to reach over 62 billion USD. This is the highest export result ever,” said Mr. Tien.

Seeing the price increase, we still have to calculate… a way out

Durian growers often get much bigger profits than other industrial crops, but it is not always easy to make money.

According to Mr. Nguyen Bao Nguyen (Buon Ho, Dak Lak), 1 hectare of durian can yield from 7 to 10 tons.

However, the investment in growing durian is large, this crop is prone to disease, not to mention the unfavorable weather in the 2024 crop, so most growing areas in the Central Highlands suffered heavy losses because the durian was hard.

Speaking to Tuoi Tre, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tung – Vice President of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association – confirmed that this year’s unripe durian has caused losses to many gardeners, even to export enterprises. However, in general, this is a crop with high economic efficiency, making many farmers rich.

Similarly, with the current pepper price, Mr. Hoang Phuoc Binh, vice president of the Chu Se Pepper Association (Gia Lai), confirmed that about 70 - 80% of farmers choose to sell when the price is below 100,000 VND/kg.

Therefore, the most profitable thing is still the agents and businesses if this force chooses to reserve. According to Mr. Binh, the domestic harvest season is about to begin (December), if the pepper price remains good, many farmers will benefit this year.

Many farmers have now started harvesting coffee and are choosing to sell fresh coffee at a fairly high price: 20,000 VND/kg, 3-4 times higher than last year. Many businesses say their biggest concern is the fear of price fluctuations.

Mass planting when prices increase will easily lead to the risk of supply exceeding demand, causing prices to drop in the coming years.

In the first 10 months of the year, 1.2 million tons of coffee were exported, earning 4.6 billion USD. In the photo: coffee growing in Dak Lak - Photo: NGUYEN KHANH

New records

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that the export turnover of agricultural, forestry and fishery products in the first 10 months of this year reached 51.74 billion USD, an increase of 20% over the same period last year, and the agricultural sector had a trade surplus of about 15.2 billion USD, an increase of more than 62% over the same period in 2023.

Notably, many agricultural export products are competing to set historical records.

For example, in the first 10 months of the year, 1.2 million tons of coffee were exported - although the volume decreased by nearly 11% compared to the same period last year, thanks to the record high export price, it helped earn 4.6 billion USD.

Similarly, rice exports in the first 10 months of the year reached 4.86 billion USD - surpassing the record of the whole year 2023 (4.68 billion USD). Thus, in 2023, Vietnam exported 8.13 million tons of rice and earned 4.68 billion USD, but in the first 10 months of this year, it exported 7.8 million tons.

In the last two months of the year, rice exports could reach over 8 million tons. “India has just resumed rice exports, but our country’s fragrant rice and premium rice segments are selling at high prices and are very stable, so this is very good news,” said Mr. Tien.

Similarly, fruit and vegetable export turnover increased by over 30% over the same period last year and earned 6.34 billion USD in 10 months, thanks to the boom in durian exports.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, fruit and vegetable exports in the first 10 months of this year not only increased sharply in the Chinese market but also increased in 14 out of 15 major export markets, with the strongest increase in the Thai market (87%).

Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, said this was a year of great success for the fruit and vegetable industry, partly due to China's strong import demand.

According to Mr. Nguyen, in the last two months of the year we continued to export off-season durian while other countries had no goods.

In addition, other fruits also benefit from the winter, a time when many countries face difficulties in harvesting, while Vietnam still maintains favorable conditions for growing vegetables and fruits.

In particular, the advantage of road, sea and rail connections with China helps save costs and transportation time. “At this rate, fruit and vegetable exports could reach 7.5 billion USD – an unprecedented record,” Mr. Nguyen said.