Agricultural, forest and aquatic product exports to increase (03/8)
03/08/2012 - 14 Lượt xem
It
is forecasted that the EU Summit which ended in late June would create
a breakthrough for the euro zone and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
of the US would grow three percent in 2012 against the 1.7 percent
increase of 2011. The unemployment rate in the US has reduced to nine
percent. Such changes will contribute to raising the purchasing power
of consumers in these markets for the remainder of 2012. This is a good
indicator for Vietnam to boost exports of agricultural, forest and
aquatic products towards the target of US$26.7 billion set for 2012.
Regarding
agricultural products, Vietnam expects to increase the export value of
pepper, cashews and tea in the remaining months of the year. The export
prices of these three products are hoped to rise. Vietnam exported tea
at an average price of US$1,650 per tonne in June, higher than the
export prices achieved in the previous months of 2012 and US$14 higher
than the export price of June 2011. Tea prices in the world market are
predicted to continue to be high in the rest of 2012 due to supply
shortages.
The
export price of cashew nuts is predicted to increase slightly and vary
from US$6,700 to US$7,120 per tonne due to higher consumer demand in
the later months of the year and limited supplies. Vietnam currently
remains the number-one cashew nut exporter in the world. In the first
half of 2012 Vietnamese cashew nut exports to major markets grew with
exports to the US accounting for 28.3 percent of the total, China 17.8
percent, and the Netherlands 12.3 percent.
Export
pepper prices remained high in contrast to other agricultural products
that fell in value and ranged between US$6,750 and US$6,970 per tonne.
In the second half of this year pepper prices were forecasted to be
higher than in 2011 with new supplies from Indonesia and Brazil.
To
boost exports, the pepper sector has asked commercial banks to provide
pepper businesses with low or zero-percent interest rate loans for a
period of three to six months so that they can buy pepper for temporary
stockpiling in the harvest season during the first quarter of every
year - this will allow pepper businesses to take the initiative in
signing export contracts.
The
Vietnam Pepper Association has proposed a reduction, exemption and
abrogation of the value added taxes which are currently applied to
pepper export businesses - this will contribute to maintaining
sustainable growth of the pepper sector and boosting pepper exports.
Regarding
seafood, the value of exports to large markets increased in the first
half of 2012, for example to the US up 16 percent, Japan 33 percent,
and the Republic of Korea 13 percent. However, the export of seafood to
the EU will continue to suffer difficulties due to the impact of the
public debt crisis and other trade barriers.
Due
to difficult exports to the EU, domestic seafood businesses tend to
concentrate on increasing exports to the US market and have even accept
lower export prices. To deal with this problem in the later months of
this year, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers
(VASEP) has asked the Government to allow businesses to register export
contracts with the association from August 1. VASEP has also requested
the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) to ask the
Government and the Finance Ministry to consider listing seafood
packaging in the group of environmental protection tax-free goods in
order to reduce difficulties for businesses in the current situation.
The
MARD recently requested the State Bank of Vietnam to provide guidance
for commercial banks to facilitate access to low interest loans for
agricultural businesses. This ministry has organized trade promotion
activities with the aim to increase the export value of agricultural,
forest and aquatic products in the later months of this year./.
Source: VEN
Source: VEN
