Correction slows down with less profit-taking

Market correction began to ease this morning with less investors looking to take short-term profits.

In HCM City, the VN-Index dropped slightly by 0.05 per cent to close at 519.98 points.

Trading volume was a little higher than on Thursday with 35.6 million shares worth VND879 billion ($41.9 million) changing hands.

Blue chips continued to disappoint, with insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), down 1 per cent; software producer FPT Corp (FPT), down 0.8 per cent, PetroVietnam Finance (PVF), down 0.7 per cent and Hoa Phat Group (HPG), down 0.5 per cent.

Banking stocks also dropped by 1.3 per cent this morning.

However, Masan Group (MSN) managed a modest gain of 0.6 per cent.

Penny stock Interfood Shareholding Co (IFS) achieved the highest increase in price with a 5 per cent rise to VND12,600, followed by Binh Duong Trade & Development (TDC), up 4.93 per cent to VND29,800 and Ca Mau Trading (CMV), up 4.85 per cent to VND23,800.

The Investment and Trading Real Estate Co (ITC) was the most active stock with 2.3 million shares traded.

In Ha Noi, the HNX-Index finished 0.13 per cent up to close at 107.81 points.

Volume remained low at 19.1 million shares totalling VND367.5 billion ($17.5 million). Kim Long Securities (KLS) claimed the heaviest volume with 1.3 million shares traded.

Mekong delta obtains high GDP in 2010 

The Mekong delta region obtained a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 12.2 percent in 2010, doubling the country’s average level (6.78 percent).

According to the Steering Board of the Southwestern Region, over the past year, the region had a total social investment of over VND 153 trillion (US$ 7.2 billion).

The region gained a food output of nearly 21.6 million tonnes, more than 1 million tonnes over 2009, meeting domestic demands for consumption. The region exported 6.8 million tonnes of rice in 2010, the highest volume so far.

However, the region GDP per capita was VND 21 million VND (about US$ 1,000), lower than the country’s rate.

January rice exports hit record 

Vietnam exported more than 485,000 tonnes of rice in January, the highest figure ever for a year’s first month thanks to prompt delivery, according to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA). 

Rice exporters had by the end of January registered to ship 1.5 million tonnes of rice on contracts, a year-on-year increase of 15.74 percent, the VFA said at a meeting with its member firms in Ho Chi Minh City on Feb. 10.

They also registered a high volume on contracts to export rice in the first month of this year, mainly with Malaysia and Indonesia.

VFA Chairman Truong Thanh Phong said he was optimistic about the country’s rice consumption in 2011 thanks to contracts signed with Indonesia and Bangladesh late last year, along with contracts with other countries like Cuba, Iraq and Malaysia .

He said the VFA estimates rice export will reach 1.6 million tonnes in the first quarter of this year and 2.24 million tonnes in the second quarter of 2011.

At the meeting, Phong said the VFA will ask the Government for permission to purchase and stockpile 1 million tonnes of rice from the winter-spring crop.

The stockpile will begin on March 1 and end on April 15, he added.

Auto imports down in January 

Vietnam imported 6,000 automobiles in January, a figure showing 1,000 less automobiles than last year according to the National Statistics Office.

Despite the decrease in imports this month, the annual figure showed an increase of 95.3 percent.

During the last three months of 2010, the country imported 4,600 automobiles worth US$80 million, 5,500 worth US$93 million and 7,000 worth US$115 million.

Nearly 10,000 motorbikes worth US$14 million were also imported showing a decrease of 17.4 percent.

The increase in automobile imports was caused by a cut in the import tax that came into effect at the beginning of the year.

Effective from January 29, the General Department of Customs has announced new car tax rates which will see a further increase from one to six percent.

The minimum tariff to be applied by customs will generally increase from US$500 to US$1,500 against that of last year. Some automobiles, such as the five seater Toyota Corolla model will be subject to a new tariff of US$11,000 replacing the current tariff of US$9,500.

Traders remain optimistic about the market recovery in 2011 after it saw a sharp dip in 2010, when the automobile market was also strongly affected by the global recession.

The Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association reported that last year 150,000 units were sold in the country, an annual decrease of 17 percent.

The reason for this dip is being explained as the result of tax policies and a fluctuating currency along with high interest rates. 

Government to keep fuel price stabilization fund 

The government will continue to operate the fuel price stabilization mechanism though there are reports that a fund meant for it is running out of money.

The Ministry of Finance report that VND83 billion (US$4.25 million) is left in the fund while fuel wholesalers claim it is VND1.35 trillion in the red.

The Ministry said this means the oil companies overdrew VND1.4 trillion from it last year to cover their losses. The fund receives the VND300 surtax that has been slapped on a liter of gasoline.

But the companies complain that they suffer a loss of VND2,000-2,400 on every liter of gasoline despite using the fund to offset losses.

In December the ministry accused Petrolimex of surreptitiously drawing VND1.24 trillion (US$60 million) from the fund to cover its losses.

Last year the government provided the industry VND7 trillion in the form of import tax cuts and VND3 trillion from the fund. This year the total amount has already topped VND8 trillion.

There has been speculation that retail gasoline prices will shoot up after the Lunar New Year since international prices have rising to above $90 a barrel and seem headed for the $100 mark.

The oil firms late last year called for shutting down the fund and increasing fuel prices instead.

But the government has defended the fund saying it is meant for a rainy day.

WWF Sweden to remove tra fish from red list 

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP) has reported that the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in Sweden will remove Vietnamese tra fish from their Red List in its guidance manual for seafood consumers.

This was the result of discussions between Le Thi Thu Nguyet, Vietnam ’s Trade Counselor in Sweden and Ingar Naslund, who is in charge of fisheries at WWF Sweden, earlier this month.

VASEP said that Mark Powell, the WWF’s International Global Seafood Program Coordinator, has recommended to global consumers that Vietnamese tra fish is safe to eat.

Earlier, tra fish products were removed from the WWF’s Red List in Norway , Switzerland and the Netherlands , a month after Vietnam signed a deal with the WWF on sustainably developing tra fish in December 2010.

In Vietnam, tra fish play an important role in the agricultural economy. In 2010, the country exported about 650,000 tons of fish, earning USD1.4 billion .

However, VASEP Vice Chairman Duong Ngoc Minh said that due to certain challenges, such as a lack of materials and fries, diseases and inclement weather, it will be difficult to meet its plan of exporting USD1.45-1.55 billion  worth of tra fish in 2011.

Shrimp and catfish prices escalate 

Tiger shrimp and tra catfish prices have reached an all time high in the Mekong Delta region after Tet (Lunar New Year).

Bac Lieu Province on February 9 saw 20 shrimps weighing one kilogram going for VND250,000-260,000, 30 shrimps weighing one kilogram for VND190,000-200,000 and 40 shrimps weighing a kilogram for VND150,000-160,000.

Despite the soaring price hike, shrimp breeders had no shrimps to sell as now is not the season nor has the fish harvest been plentiful this year.

Meanwhile the price of tra catfish has risen continually in An Giang, Dong Thap and Vinh Long provinces.

Seafood companies currently buy fish directly from farmers at a minimum price of VND24, 000 per kilogram, a price which has been the highest ever. 

The shortage of shrimp and tra has raised concern amongst seafood exporters as they face difficulty in completing their export orders.

According to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, the high prices are not wholly to blame as farmers have yet to breed shrimps and tra catfish in a more systematic and sustainable way, balancing both their loans as well as consumption demands of the market.

The General Fishery Department has reported that exports of aquatic products reached US$320 million in January, showing a 2.3 percent increase from the same period last year.

The US remained Vietnam’s largest aquatic products importer, followed by Japan, the Republic of Korea, China, Germany and Spain.

Trade insiders believe that Vietnam is hopeful of earning a record high of US$5 billion from export of aquatic products this year as world demand grows and supplies from several countries show signs of diminishing.

Value of farm exports expected to rise

Viet Nam is expected to improve its export-value growth in major agricultural, aquacultural and forestry products this year, amid the recovery of the global economy.

Figures from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development show that Viet Nam's exports of agricultural, forestry and aquacultural products last year gained high value due to high prices and stable markets.

The global economy would continue recovering, the ministry expects, and the export demand for agricultural, forestry and aquacultural products would increase.

As a result, Viet Nam would maintain growth in export value for its more commonly exported products, including rice, aquacultural produce, pepper and rubber.

Last year, the aquaculture sector set a record with more than US$5 billion in export value.

Products were exported to many demanding markets, with the US taking the largest value of 19.3 per cent, followed by Japan with 7.8 per cent. South Korea, Germany and Spain were also among the top consumers of Vietnamese aquacultural products.

In addition, Vietnamese products have entered new markets in South America and the Middle East and have been expected to reach $5.5 billion in export value this year, the highest-level ever. This year, Viet Nam's rubber productivity is hopefully to rise 4 per cent to reach 780,000 tonnes, following the farmland extension of 5,000ha.

The ministry predicts that the first quarter of the year will see high demand for rubber because of the shortage of supply both globally and domestically.

The Vietnamese rubber-tyre market will be more successful this year as the rubber supply in large markets in the US, Europe and Japan is declining, said the Southern Rubber Industry JSC (Casumina), the country's leader in the field.

This is seen as an advantage for Viet Nam and other small markets, according to Casumina.

Viet Nam's rubber export volume is planned to exceed 760,000 tonnes this year for an export value of nearly $3 billion, an almost $700 million increase compared to last year.

Viet Nam remains as the world's leading pepper exporter, accounting for 44 per cent of the global export volume.

The International Pepper Association expects this year's global pepper export volume to fall to 230,000 tonnes, 3.3 per cent lower than last year.

The two world major pepper producers, Brazil and Indonesia, will see their export volume fall this year, with Brazil having a reduction of 11.8 per cent and Indonesia, nearly 47.7 per cent.

Meanwhile, Viet Nam's key pepper producing area in the southeastern region expects a bumper crop this year.

The Viet Nam Pepper Association (VPA) said the country's pepper product-ivity would exceed the 2010 mark by producing 100,000 tonnes, an increase of 5.3 per cent compared to last year.

The VPA said Vietnamese pepper exporters were taking advantage of competitors' reduced productivity to grab more market share.

Vietnamese cement producers eye Africa

Thang Long Cement Joint-stock Co exported its first batch of 25,000 tonnes of cement to Africa under an export contract for 50,000 tonnes.

The remaining volume is scheduled to be exported late this month. The plant is expected to start its second production chain in 2013, aiming at a total output of 4.6 million tonnes per year. It also intends to export 300,000 tonnes of bagged cement and 200,000 tonnes of bulk cement to Singapore, Brunei, Africa, America and the Middle East this year.

First batch of tra fish fillets off to Mexico

A first batch of 66 tonnes of Tra fillets was exported to Mexico on Tuesday, according to Hung Ca Ltd Co. In addition, 100 tonnes of Tra fillets were also exported to Europe by the International Development and Investment Corporation (IDI Corporation) yesterday.

Almost all the businesses in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap have restarted operation following the Lunar New Year. IDI Corporation expects to attain an export value of US$45 million, a 25-per-cent increase compared with 2010. The province has also set a target of $504 million in export turnover this year.

Work begins on $2b entertainment complex

Construction of Happy Land Entertainment Complex is scheduled to start on February 14 in the southern province of Long An with a total investment capital of US$2 billion.

Happy Land is planned to be developed within 39 months and launched on 24 April, 2014. The entertainment complex will feature international hotels, shopping centres, international exhibitions and art amusements. It aims to draw 14 million tourists a year.