VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam is the second biggest rice exporter in the world, the fifth largest tea exporter and the fourth biggest shrimp exporter. But the country has met major difficulties when entering large markets.

April was a month of bad luck for Vietnamese farmers and exporters.

In early April, thousands of tons of watermelon from the central region was stuck at the Tan Thanh border gate as it could not be sold to Chinese merchants.

Some days ago, local newspapers reported that 50,000 tons of onion were left unsold in Soc Trang province as Indonesia stopped buying the product.

More recently, 30,000 tons of rice planned for China across the border gate was stuck at the Lao Cai border gate.

In Africa and the Middle East, the firm position of Vietnam’s rice has been threatened by the appearance of Indian and Pakistani rice. In the EU and China, Vietnam has to struggle with two new rivals – Myanmar and Cambodia.

Tea exports have also faced big barriers as Taiwan announced it would tighten control over imports after it discovered plant-protection chemical residue in imports from Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Vietnam’s shrimp and fish exports have been suffering from the anti-dumping duties imposed by the US. 

“Bad news comes from many markets, from Japan to the EU and the US, the largest export markets for Vietnam,” said Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh.

Vietnam is estimated to export $8.5 billion worth of farm and seafood produce in the first four months of the year, a 5.1 percent decrease in comparison with last year’s period. The decrease will affect millions of Vietnamese farmers.

The lack of information and bad production organization have been cited as the main reasons behind the export slowdown.

“At first, we thought Vietnam’s rice sold slowly because Thai rice was $20-30 per ton cheaper than Vietnam’s. However, we later realized that African consumers did not like Vietnam’s white rice,” said Huynh The Nang, chair of the Vietnam Food Association, explaining the unsatisfactory sales.

However, it seems that exporters did not have important information. This was why they still bought this type of rice for a stockpile one month ago, about 50 percent of one million tons of rice bought.

Trung Xuan Ai, director of Ton Vinh Tea Company, which had nine tea export consignments refused, complained that it was difficult to organize production if farmers do not cooperate.

“We spent money to help farmers buy good varieties and fertilizer. However, they sold tea to others, not to us,” he complained.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Hoai Nam, deputy secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers, complained that the association has not received necessary information about markets from trade counselors.

Pham Huyen