Exports of agricultural, forestry and fishery products were valued at USD2.55 billion in October, bringing the figure for the first ten months this year to USD24.61 billion, down 3.8% over a year earlier, reported the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Of this, export value of major agricultural products reached an estimated USD11.51 billion, a year-on-year reduction of 6.1% with sharp declines recorded in coffee (31.4%), rubber (15.8%) and rice (11.7%).

Meanwhile, cashew and pepper exports witnessed positive growth during the period. The country shipped 272,000 tonnes of cashews, valued at USD1.97 billion, up 6.3% in volume and 18% in value year on year.

In spite of seeing a 19.6% decrease in export volume at 117,000 tonnes, pepper still enjoyed a 0.5% surge in export value at USD1.11 billion.

Seafood exports in the ten months represented a year-on-year 17.7% decrease in value at USD5.37 billion. The US continued to be the biggest importer of Vietnam’s seafood products with 19.43% of the country’s seafood export turnover.

For wood and wooden products, export turnover was estimated at USD5.47 billion from the start of the year, up 7.9% in comparison to the same period last year. The US, Japan and China were the three biggest importers of Vietnam’s commodities, making up 67.2% of the total./.

( Hoang Quan )