HA NOI (VNS)— Export earnings from agricultural, forestry and fisheries products in the first 11 months of the year recorded a 1.5 per cent increase year-on-year, reaching US$25.2 billion.

Nguyen Viet Chien, director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Informatics and Statistics Centre, said the situation was not all positive because of a sharp drop in key exports, such as rice, coffee and rubber.

However, exports of pepper, cashews, timber and aquatic products had grown higher.

In the period, export turnover of key agricultural staples was estimated at $12 billion, a fall of 11.3 per cent from last year. Fishery exports rose 9.1 per cent and forestry products, 19.2 per cent.

The volume of rice exports fell 16.1 per cent to 6.29 tonnes and the value fell to $2.78 billion, a drop of18.8 per cent.

China remained Viet Nam's largest rice importer, taking 31.1 per cent of Viet Nam's total rice exports. Exports rose 5.1 per cent to 1.92 million tonnes, worth $800.7 million.

Total rubber exports in the period surged 5.4 per cent to reach 955,000 tonnes. They were valued at $2.24 billion, down 12.2 per cent.

Chien said rubber exports to China made up 43.4 per cent of the total. However, during the period it bought 3.9 per cent less in volume and 19.7 per cent in value.

Malaysia was the second largest importer of Vietnamese rubber, accounting for 21.1 per cent of all exports.

The export of tea fell 5.3 per cent to 128,000 tonnes while the value was down 0.1 per cent at $206 million.

Pakistan remained Viet Nam's largest tea importer, but its imports fell 10.7 per cent in volume and 6.5 per cent in value. Taiwan bought 2 per cent more tea than it did in the same period one year ago.

The volume of coffee exports fell 14.4 per cent during the period to reach 1.18 million tonnes worth $2.51 billion, a 24.4 per cent year-on-year decrease.

Germany and the United States continued to be Viet Nam's largest coffee importers, accounting for 13 per cent and 10.8 per cent respectively.

Coffee exports to Russia grew 4.7 pert cent; to Britain, 4.7 per cent; and to Japan, 4 per cent from last year.

Cashew exports were a bright point in the export scene. Volume surged 17 per cent to 238,000 tonnes and the value rose 10.1 per cent to $1.49 billion.

The US, China and Holland remained Viet Nam's biggest cashew importers with growth rates of 33.2 per cent, 17.2 per cent and 9.9 per cent respectively.

And the volume and value of cashew exports to Singapore soared 59.3 per cent and 43.4 per cent respectively.

Forestry and fisheries staples surged against the same period last year. Exports of timber and timber products topped $4.87 billion, up 15.8 per cent from last year.

Exports to South Korea were up 47.2 per cent; to China, 33.1 per cent; to Japan, 22 per cent; and to the US, 9.3 per cent. — VNS