Which five essential farm commodities saw growth in March?

In comparison to February, five out of eight critical farming commodities resumed impressive exports with a two-digit increase in March. These five farm commodities include cashew, vegetables, rice, pepper, and cassava. The coronavirus pandemic hasn’t affected the shipping of products, stated the General Department of Customs.

Cashew nuts had the most significant export growth rate. It increased by 68.4 % in volume to 43,944 tonnes and 67% in value to US$309.2 million compared to February.

Cassava saw an increase of 47.4 % in volume and 63.6 % in value to 332,727 tonnes and $116 million, respectively.

The other three products with significant growth in export value included pepper (45.6% to $83 million), fruits and vegetables (42.5% to $361.6 million), and rice (14% to $271.5 million).

In the meantime, coffee exports dropped by 2.2 % in volume to 169,981 tonnes but improved slightly by 0.6% in value to $294.8 million.

Rubber had the largest decline in exports compared to February, with 21.8 % in volume to 60,562 tonnes. The commodity saw a 23.2 % decrease in value to $87 million.

The other product with an export decrease in both volume and value was tea. It had a fall of 1.8% in exports and 2.8% in revenue, 9,277 tonnes and $13 million, respectively.

The export value of those eight essential farm products in March reached $1.62 billion, up by 32.1 % compared to February. That figure brought the total export value in the first quarter to $3.98 billion, up by 0.3 % year on year.

China was still Vietnam’s most significant agricultural export market in the first three months of this year. It had an export value of $1.15 billion. However, this figure sank by 7% over the period of 2019.

The second and third most significant export markets of local farm produce were the EU market. There was $684 million worth of exports, up 5.5 %. In the US, there was $402 million worth of exports, up 7 % year on year.