In the first half of the year, the whole sector has achieved good results in favorable weather and climate conditions for all the fields of cultivation, husbandry and aquaculture. Specifically, GDP contribution of agriculture, forestry and fishery sector in the first 6 months was expected to increase from 3.95% - 4.05%, the highest rate in recent decade; Agro-forestry-fishery production value increased by 4.2%; Of which, cultivation increased 4.12%, husbandry 2.04%, forestry 5.21% and fisheries 6.49%; Export turnover of the whole industry reached about US $ 19.4 billion, achieving a growth rate of 12%.
Specifically, the export turnover of agriculture, forestry and fishery in June 2018 was estimated at US $ 3.45 billion, bringing the total export value in the first 6 months of 2018 reached US $19.4 billion, up 12% compared with the same period of 2017, of which, export value of main agricultural products was estimated at US $ 10.3 billion, up 9.7% over the same period last year. Rice, coffee, rubber, cashew nuts, wood and wood products and fisheries continue to be the Vietnam's main export agricultural products in the first half of the year.
Rice export in June 2018 was estimated at 604 thousand tons with a value of US $ 317 million, bringing the total rice export volume in the first 6 months of 2018 to 3.6 million tons, worth US $ 1.8 billion, up 24, 6% in volume and 42.4% in value over the same period in 2017. The coffee export turnover in the first half of this year was estimated at US $ 2.01 billion, down 4.7% in value over the same period last year. Rubber products export in the first six months of 2018 was estimated at 560 thousand tons and US $ 816 million, up 16.1% in volume but down 8.6% in value compared with the same period in 2017. Cashew nut exports in June was estimated 33 thousand tons with a value of US $ 300 million, bringing the volume of cashew exports in the first 6 months to 176 thousand tons and US $ 1.7 billion, an increase of 16.7% in volume and 16.4% in value over the same period in 2017. The export value of key fishery products was estimated at US $ 3.94 billion, up 10.5% over the same period of 2017 while that of wood items was at US $ 4.33 billion, up 12.7% annually.
In the fisheries sector, estimated seafood exports in June increased nearly 12% to almost US $ 729 million, bringing total exports in the first six months to nearly US $ 4 billion, up 12.3% over the same period in 2017. Among key import markets of Vietnamese seafood products, the US was the only market which had a negative growth rate (-1.1%) compared to 2017. EU was the biggest market in the first half of this year with total import value of US $ 706.5 million, up 20.2% year on year. Almost important markets in EU block recorded a positive growth rate in importing Vietnamese seafood during this period, except for Italia (-2.2%). Holland stood at the first position with almost US $ 160 million, up 56%, followed by the UK (US $ 127,6 million, up 16.5%), Germany (US $94.7 million, up 26.3%) and Belgium (US $ 80 million, up 23.2%). Despite of a negative growth rate, the US still hold the second position with US $ 635 million. Next were Japan (US $ 615.5 million), China and Hong Kong (US $ 585 million), S. Korea (US $ 391.6 million) and ASEAN (US $ 314.8 million).
In terms of export items, shrimp and tra fish were two items which had export turnover of over US $ 1 billion. Specifically, shrimp export value in the first 6 months was at US $ 1.6 billion, while that of tra fish was over US $ 1 billion. Thanks to shortage supply and high demand at the early months of this year, tra fish price and tra fish export all gained upward trend since the beginning of this year, which boosted farmer to invest in tra fish farming. In June only, tra fish export value reached over US $ 205 million, up 21.8% compared to June 2017. Except for the EU market, tra fish export to all other markets recorded positive growth, especially in China and the US, as the demand of these big markets increased. It is forecasted that tra fish exports in the second half of the year will continue to increase sharply.
Shrimp still remained the leading position of seafood export items of Viet Nam in the first half of this year with exports reached over US $ 1.6 billion, up 5.1% over the same period last year. White leg shrimp contributed the major share in shrimp export turnover, which accounted for nearly 70% (US $ 1.1 billion). White leg shrimp export in June decreased 2.7% year on year, but still increased 14.2% year on year in all over the first 6 months of 2018. Exports of black tiger shrimp fell by 6.3% to US $ 388 million. It is forecasted that shrimp exports will recover in July and in the coming months as the demand in the market is rising again. The price of shrimp material also tends to increase, so farmers will again be confident in investing in shrimp farming.
Tuna export value in June jumped 12.6% to almost US $ 57 million, bringing the first half of the year's exports up to US $ 302.6 million, up 11.7%. US and EU were two largest importers of Vietnamese tuna, accounted for 56% of total, standing at US $ 98.8 million and 71.1 million respectively. While export tuna to the US saw a decline, the EU market still witnessed an increase of 22.8% of importing tuna from Viet Nam in the first 6 months, of which markets had strong growth were the Holland, Spain and Germany. Other markets who had strong growth were Israel, Japan and ASEAN. Tuna export to China faced a decrease of 43%, to US $ 3.5 million in the first 6 months.
In the first six months, seafood import turnover reached US $ 860.67 million, up 32.5% over the same period in 2017. According to preliminary statistics of the General Department of Customs, in June, the seafood imports into Vietnam decreased slightly 0.05% compared with the previous month, reaching US $ 163.28 million. Generally for the first six months of the year, seafood imports reached US $ 860.67 million, up 32.5% over the same period in 2017.
In the first half of this year, imports of seafood from most markets increased in value compared to the same period last year, except for only three markets of Myanmar (- 29.1% to US $ 1.4 million), Denmark (-20.3% to US $ 9.68 million), China (-3.1% to US $ 58.21 million).
India was the largest seafood export market of Viet Nam. Seafood export from this market increased by 16.9% over the same period, reaching US $ 198.55 million, accounting for 23.1% of total seafood imports of the country. Imports from the Norwegian market increased sharply by 68.5% over the same period, reaching US $ 88.29 million, accounting for nearly 10.3%. That from ASEAN countries increased by 44.9%, reaching US $ 63.46 million, accounting for 7.4%; imported from Taiwan increased by 32.4%, reaching US $ 55.5 million, accounting for 6.49%. Notably, seafood import from the Canadian market got the highest growth rate of 105.6% yea on year although its turnover value was only US $ 14.24 million.
Hương Trà