According to the General Department of Customs, in the first 11 months of 2024, the country’s fruit and vegetable export revenue was estimated to reach more than 6.6 billion USD, an increase of 27.1% over the same period in 2023 and far exceeding the turnover for the whole year of 2023. With an initial import turnover of more than 2.1 billion USD, fruits and vegetables have a trade surplus of nearly 4.5 billion USD.
Open market
General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association Dang Phuc Nguyen said in the first 11 months of 2024, Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable export turnover to most major markets grew positively, in which many potential markets such as China, the US, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Australia, UAE were well exploited. The largest contributor to fruit and vegetable export turnover is still durian products with the main market being China.
In the first nine months of 2024 alone, China imported nearly 618,000 tonnes of durian from Vietnam, worth 2.45 billion USD, up 72.2% in volume and 57.3% in value compared to the same period in 2023. The average import price of durian from Vietnam is about 3,962 USD/tonne. In September 2024 alone, Vietnam surpassed Thailand to become the largest supplier of durian to China, reaching approximately 177,000 tonnes, worth 640.72 million USD, up 90% in volume and 71.5% in value compared to September 2023.
Meanwhile, in the US, many Vietnamese fruit and vegetable products are increasingly popular, especially coconut and passion fruit. Accordingly, the US sharply increased coconut imports from Vietnam in the first eight months of 2024 with an increase of 1,155.6% in volume and 933.6% in value compared to the same period in 2023, reaching about 3,860 tons, worth 3.94 million USD. Vietnam’s coconut market share in total US imports increased from 0.76% in the first eight months of 2023 to 8.59% in the first eight months of 2024. Meeting the strict requirements of the US market has opened up new prospects for the Vietnamese coconut industry.
For the Australian market, in October 2024, the first 1.5 tonnes of passion fruit were exported to this market, opening up great opportunities for the Vietnamese fruit and vegetable industry. Australia is currently in the top 10 largest fruit and vegetable export markets of Vietnam. “In December 2024, Vietnam’s fruit and vegetable exports will still be positive due to seasonal factors. Although the main durian season ended in October, Vietnam still has off-season goods to serve high consumer demand at the end of the year. In addition, the export turnover of many other vegetables, tubers, fruits and processed products also recorded high growth. In 2024, the export turnover of processed fruits and vegetables will continue to exceed 1 billion USD”, Dang Phuc Nguyen emphasised.
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Processing fresh fruits and herbs at the TH Group factory (Van Ho district, Son La province). (Photo: Tue Linh) |
According to Nguyen Phong Phu, Technical Director of Vina T&T Group, enterprises processing and exporting vegetables and fruits in general and fruits in particular are facing a great opportunity to increase export turnover. The reason is that the world market demand for this source of goods is increasing, while Vietnam is doing a very good job of opening the market.
With the official signing of the Protocol on phytosanitary requirements and food safety for frozen durian exported from Vietnam to China; Protocol on phytosanitary requirements for fresh coconut exported from Vietnam to China, the door to a large market has opened for two key products of the vegetable and fruit industry.
On the other hand, the quality of Vietnamese fruits is also increasingly improved, meeting the standard requirements of each importing country, thereby increasing competitiveness when penetrating many high-quality markets. Vina T&T Group currently has 5 packaging factories, exporting about 1,500 tonnes of fruit/month. With advanced freezing technology, fruits can retain their fresh flavor throughout the transportation process, meeting the strict standards of many markets.
Improving quality, enhancing processing
According to the forecast of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association, in 2024, durian exports will reach about 3.5 billion USD. With this growth rate, Vietnam can become the top durian exporter to the Chinese market in the next few years.
Director of the Department of Crop Production under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Nhu Cuong said: The increase in durian area and output in recent times has created a large and abundant supply of fresh fruit for export. Notably, with the ability to produce in different harvest seasons, it is possible to provide fresh fruit for a long time, many seasons in a year; especially from the end of October of the previous year to February and March of the following year when other countries have no products to harvest, creating a seasonal advantage in Vietnam's durian exports. However, the “hot growth” in durian area and output is at risk of affecting product quality, which in the long term will cause difficulties for export activities, so timely control is needed.
Along with ensuring quality, businesses need to promote processing, focusing on deep processing, both increasing added value and limiting seasonal risks such as fresh exports. Currently, the output of processed fresh fruits and vegetables is still low while the annual harvest is very large. This is also one of the main reasons why Vietnam's fruit and vegetable export turnover still accounts for a low proportion in markets and market areas with high demand for processed products such as Europe, the US, the Republic of Korea, etc.
In addition, to further accelerate fruit and vegetable export turnover in a short time, it is necessary to exploit more potential markets. At the end of October 2024, the Vietnam-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) was signed, creating a great opportunity for Vietnam to promote the export of its strengths to the UAE as well as countries in the Middle East and Africa. This is a market area with high demand for agricultural products and Halal food for Muslims, in which fruit and vegetable products have a great advantage. Therefore, businesses need to learn about market information, production processes, regulations, and Halal product certification to soon access and exploit this extremely fertile market.
For traditional markets, especially the key market of China, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuc - Director of AutoAgri Software Technology Joint Stock Company said that the demand for fruits and vegetables from Vietnam in the Chinese market is still very large. Many winter fruits and vegetables from northern Vietnam are sought after by Chinese customers and are desired to be imported.
However, most of these vegetables have not yet been officially licensed for import into China, so the negotiation process with partners and export implementation is facing many difficulties and cannot be implemented. This reality shows that it is necessary to sign more official export protocols for many other vegetables and fruits to fully exploit Vietnam's advantages in a large agricultural market like China.
