The impressive growth of key agricultural products

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Vietnam’s agricultural exports have seen a strong growth in 2021 because of utilizing tariff incentives from the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA). The total export value of Vietnam’s key agricultural products including coffee, cashew nut, rubber, fruits and vegetables, pepper, rice and tea to the EU market reached about US$2.2 billion in the first 11 months of 2021, up 10.1% compared with the same period in 2020.

As a result, EU has become one of the largest markets of Vietnam’s agricultural products, accounting for 13.7% of the total export value of Vietnamese key farm produce.

Coffee is the product with the highest export value in the EU market, reaching US$939 million in the first 11 months of 2021, an increase of 0.5% from the same period in 2020. The EU is also the largest market of Vietnamese coffee, accounting for nearly 34.8% of the total coffee export turnover of Vietnam.

Cashew nut exports to the EU reached 122,000 tons worth US$734 million in the first 11 months in 2021, up 15.2% in volume and up 6.2% in value compared with the same period in 2020. The EU is also the second largest market of Vietnamese cashew nut, accounting for 22% of the total cashew export turnover of Vietnam.

In the first 11 months of 2021, Vietnam’s rubber export to the EU reached approximately 100,000 tons worth US$175 million, up 33.7% in volume and up 72.6% in value from the same period in 2020. Fruit & vegetable export turnover was US$173 million, up 7.6%; pepper exports reached 40,000 tons worth US$165 million, up 7.4% in volume and up 63.9% in value; rice exports reached 54,000 tons worth US$ 38 million, up only 0.8% in volume and up 21.6% in value; the value of tea exports reached about US$3 million, up 21.6%.

Despite of the Covid-19 pandemic thanks to the EVFTA, the export turnover of Vietnam’s key agricultural products to the EU’s major export markets has increased significantly or decreased slightly.

Particularly, export value to Germany reached US$641 million, up 24.4% compared with the same period in 2020, accounting for 28.8% of the total export turnover of Vietnam’s key farm produce to the EU market. Export turnover to the Netherlands, Italy reached US$500 million, up 1.9% (accounting for 22.5%) and US$285 million, up 3.2% (accounting for 12.8%) respectively. Meanwhile export value to Spain decreased slightly by 0.6% (accounting for 9%).

Great potential in 2022

According to the MoIT, the exports of coffee, cashew nut, rubber, fruits & vegetables, pepper, rice and tea will continue to contribute significantly to the total export value of the key agricultural products of Vietnam and have great potential to increase in 2022. Especially, coffee will continue to take advantage of zero percent tax under the EVFTA to increase the market share in the EU, a market with coffee demand valued up to US$10billion every year.

Demand for cashew nut in Netherlands and Germany, the two largest consumers of cashew in the EU continuously grew in the end of 2021 due to increasing demand of the food processing industry and consumers.

Therefore, it’s expected that cashew nut exports to the EU will have great potential in 2022. Especially, deeply-processed cashew nut exports which enjoy zero tariff under the EVFTA will maintain a growth rate around 6% in value in the EU market.

Rubber exports were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic but with rubber prices kept at high levels in 2021 and showing no sign of going down, export turnover of Vietnamese rubber to the EU is forecasted to be positive in 2022. Vietnam exported mainly technically specified natural rubber (TSNR) and SEN to the EU in 2021.

Fruits are among potential products that Vietnam needs to focus on to take advantage of the EVFTA.  In the EU, the consumption of fruits tends to increase driven by healthy eating habits. Fresh tamarin, cashew nut, jackfruit, lychee, passion fruit, dragon fruit, guava, mango and mangosteen are forecasted to increase the market share in the EU in the near future.

Under the EVFTA the tax on pepper would be cut to zero once the agreement took effect. Thus, Vietnamese pepper seeds have big advantage in the EU market.

Besides, the fact that many EU investors are considering moving their processing plants to Vietnam to take advantages of cheap raw materials and labor will be the driving force for Vietnamese pepper exports to different EU countries. It’s projected that unground black pepper and unground white pepper will continue to make up a large proportion of Vietnam’s pepper exports in 2022.

Vietnam’s rice exports to the EU are expected to be around 60,000 tons in 2022, according to the Vietnam Food Association (VFA). The image of Vietnamese rice has changed positively in the eyes of the EU importers. In addition, Vietnamese rice has been regularly consumed in Germany, Netherlands, Italy and Poland.

In general, rice exports to the EU will maintain its strong growth in terms of turnover. Particularly, 80,000 tons of rice exported to the EU each year under the EVFTA with a tax rate of 0% alongside the popularity of Asian food in Europe will be opportunities for Vietnam to increase rice exports to the EU in the future.

Translated by Mai Tham