The Ministry of Agriculture of Rural Development (MARD) reported that the total farm produce export turnover in the first 10 months of the year reached $51.74 billion, an increase of 20.2 percent over the same period last year. The agriculture sector witnessed an export surplus of $15.2 billion, a sharp increase of 62.2 percent.

Most Vietnam’s key exports saw turnover increasing compared with the same period last year.

Vietnam exported 1.2 million tons of coffee, earning $4.6 billion in the last 10 months. While the export volume decreased by 10.8 percent, the export value increased sharply by 40 percent.

This was attributed to the 57 percent export price increase, reaching $3,981 per ton. All Vietnam’s key export markets increased their purchases in the last 10 months. Particularly, exports to the Philippines and Malaysia rose by 2.2 times compared with 2023.

Do Ha Nam, deputy chair of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (Vicofa), commented that Vietnamese coffee for the first time in history was selling at the highest prices in the world, while Robusta (Vietnam is the biggest Robusta producer in the world) is more expensive than Arabica.

Meanwhile, just within 10 months, Vietnam exported $4.86 billion of rice, which was even higher than the $4.67 billion of 2023. The export turnover represented a 23.4 percent increase compared with the same period last year.

Vietnam’s rice export prices also increased, reaching $626 per ton, up 12 percent over the same period last year.

According to MARD, exports to the Philippines, a loyal export market, had increased by 53.3 percent as of the end of September, while exports to Indonesia by 35.1 percent, and to Malaysia rose by 2.3 times over the same period last year.

In 2023, Vietnam exported 8 million tons of rice, while in the first 10 months of 2024, the figure had already reached 7.8 million tons. So, the export turnover this year will be higher than last year.

India recently removed the rice export ban and reduced export tax rates, which affected Vietnam’s 5 percent broken rice exports. However, high-quality and fragrant rice have been selling well at high prices, according to MARD Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien.

As for vegetables and fruits, the export turnover also hit a record high of $6.34 billion just within 10 months, a sharp increase of 31.5 percent over the first 10 months 2023.

The boom in durian exports made a great contribution to the record high export turnover, bringing $3 billion. Also, the export value to the Chinese market increased sharply by 37.8 percent to $3.8 billion in the first nine months.

MARD predicted that Vietnam’s veggie and fruit export value may exceed $7 billion, while rice and coffee may exceed $5 billion.

So, the total export turnover of the whole agriculture sector reached $5.91 billion in the last 10 months, and Vietnam just needs to export $5.5 billion worth of farm produce a month in the last two months of the year to reach the target of $62 billion.

Tien, at a meeting with the press in late October, said farm produce exports may hit a historic high this year, and affirmed that animal husbandry has been doing well, and there is no need to worry about a pork shortage for the upcoming Tet.

The statement by MARD has calmed the public. People were worried that farm produce supply would decline because of typhoon Yagi and floods, which caused a loss of VND30.8 trillion and affected the animal husbandry and seafood industry.

Tien reported that by the end of September, meat output had reached 6.13 million tons, up 4.8 percent compared with the same period last year. As the animal feed prices have decreased, farmers will quickly repopulate their herds of pigs.

Regarding seafood, both aquaculture and caught output have increased, reaching 7.02 million tons. The seafood export turnover by the end of September 2024 had reached $7.23 billion, so the $10 billion target for 2024 is within reach.

Tam An