According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), there are 18 second-class logistics centers in Vietnam which are inland container depots (ICDs) for farm produce storage. 

In addition, there are third-class logistics centers – distribution and warehouse centers, 46 percent of which serve farm produce.

Cold-storage warehouses have also been set up throughout the country (production cold storage, commercial cold storage and bonded warehouse cold storage). It is estimated that there are tens of thousands of such warehouses with a capacity of millions of cubic meters.

Of these, the seafood sector has 4,000 warehouses for storing raw materials and products with a total capacity of 2 million cubic meters; the vegetable and fruit sector has 1,000 warehouses placed at product collection, preliminary treatment, processing and preservation, and at retail centers and commercial centers. There are also thousands of cold storage vehicles and cold containers that serve transportation.

A Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s (MARD) report to the third session of the 15th NA said that logistics service development has helped solve a problem of Vietnam’s produce – short-term use only and spoilage. The quality of farm produce has been enhanced, while post-harvesting losses have decreased.

Nevertheless, logistics costs in Vietnam remain high. A survey by the World Bank found that logistics costs amount to 12 percent of production costs in the seafood sector, 23 percent in the woodwork industry, 29.5 percent in vegetables and fruits, and 30 percent in rice production. 

Most enterprises are small and medium size, and there are many collectors and transporters. 

The units lack the proper equipment and facilities to run vegetable and fruit supply chains, which results in a low mechanization level and limited transport and preservation capability. That is why post-harvesting losses remain high. 

Farm produce is a competitive advantage of Vietnam. However, because of the lack of logistics centers and the low quality of logistics services, produce cannot be delivered in a timely way and can easily spoil, thus increasing production costs and reducing the competitiveness of exports.

In developed countries, cold storage trucks come to orchards to carry farm produce but in Vietnam, it takes fruits a long time to go to cold warehouses, which makes the post-harvesting loss rate of 20-30 percent.

Tam An