Prices of staple farm produce drop sharply in Q1
Prices of staple farm produce drop sharply in Q1
The export turnover of local farm produce was reported at VND8.8 billion in the first quarter of the year, down almost 3% year-on-year. The fall was attributed to the two-digit falls in export prices of four staple farm produce items -- pepper, cashew, rice and coffee.
The pepper export price fell by 27%, the steepest price fall among the four products, with the value dropping 18% while the volume rose 19%.
It was followed by cashew nut, whose average export price in the given period reached over US$8,000 per ton. The cashew export price declined by 21% versus the year-ago period, with the value dipping by over 17%.
Rice came third, with an 18% decrease in export price, and was traded at US$404 per ton. The rice export value over the first three months of this year dropped by over 20%, despite a mere 3.5% dip in volume.
Also, coffee for exports now reported a 14% decrease in price. Local coffee exporters earned US$830 million in revenue in the first quarter, down nearly 24% in value and 15.3% in volume.
Other farm produce such as vegetables, cassava and shrimp products also faced a drop in export price of nearly 10%. The export turnover of vegetables and shrimp products hit over US$870 million and US$670 million, respectively.
The export of vegetables saw the strongest growth among agro-aqua-forestry products over the past three years. However, due to its heavy dependence on the Chinese market as the dominant outlet, it encountered a decline when the demand for vegetables in this market fell.
