Agricultural Commodities

Many foreign-invested enterprises have successfully developed products made of pure Vietnamese materials. Foreign investors, for example, have poured money into making fish sauce, the traditional staple in Vietnamese cuisine. The fish sauce market has always competitive with manufacturers from Phu Quoc and Phan Thiet, the two most famous fish sauce production areas. In 2002 Unilever entered the market. The multinational group jumped on the bandwagon more than 10 years ago when setting up a 6 million liter per annum fish sauce bottling workshop on Phu Quoc Island. Just after one year of operation, it churned out 7,500 liters of fish sauce which was exported to Australia.

The Robusta price in the past had climbed to as much as VND50 million per ton, which helped many farmers get rich. However, it has tumbled dramatically to below production cost. No organization has forecast a bright future for the coffee industry in 2016. Robusta price has tumbled dramatically to below production cost. No organization has forecast a bright future for the coffee industry this year.

VietNamNet Bridge - Wooden furniture manufacturers enjoy preferences thanks to a zero percent import tariff applied by many big export markets. However, very few enterprises can exploit the advantages. One of the names in the group of businesses that export products under their own name is AA Corporation, which provided interior furniture to 5-star hotels and cruise ships. It is one of a few Vietnamese companies which can provide products under the AA brand to international construction works, including Accor, Sofitel and Ritz Carlton in America, Europe and the Middle East. Wooden furniture manufacturers enjoy preferences thanks to a zero percent import tariff applied by many big export markets. However, very few enterprises can exploit the advantages.

After Tet Holiday, tuna price suddenly drops, fishermen cannot explain this situation while the authorities cannot intervene. On 22^nd, February, Mr. Nguyen Trung Hieu, Head of Hon Ro Fishing Port Management and South Central fish market (in Nha Trang city, Khanh Hoa Province) said there are hundreds of tuna vessels at the port these days. The average fish quantity per vessel is 2 tons but fishermen cannot be happy due to low price.

Nguyen Quoc Cuong, chairman of the Viet Nam Farmers' Union, speaks to Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam (the Viet Nam Economic Times) about key measures to boost Vietnamese agricultural production.

According to collaborators of VINACONEX in China, Chinese market after the Lunar New Year has lower inventories, especially in Dien Bach and Guangzhou provinces. Therefore, Chinese customers begin to buy more to serve the needs of New Year market, with stable transaction prices.

In 2015, Vietnam's fisheries sector is forecast to continue the great success of 2014.However, the high fluctuation in market created difficulties for import-export and domestic production (both in farming and exploitation). These 10 following events would give an overview for the whole year.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese coffee companies, anticipating big problems in export markets, are focusing on making instant and roasted coffee to sell in the domestic market.

HIROSHIMA, JAPAN —Satake Thailand Co. Ltd. has made an  agreement  to hold a technical seminar in April to allow rice millers in Can Tho, Vietnam, to be introduced to the latest rice milling equipment from Satake. The initiative is expected to help stimulate further sales promotion within Vietnam in the future, Satake said.

HO CHI MINH CITY -- Vietnam Dairy Products, better known as Vinamilk, had sales of 40 trillion dong ($1.7 billion) in the year through December, up 14% on the year. Net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company expanded 28% to 7.77 trillion dong, the company reported last week.

Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) stated that shrimp exports to USA in 2016 are expected to increase thanks to the positive signal from the 9th administrative review results (POR9) about anti-dumping tax on frozen shrimp imported from Vietnam and TPP negotiations end.

Prospects for natural rubber in 2016 are poor, with rubber prices are expected to remain at low levels.

The World Bank (WB) forecasts the price of RSS3 rubber will recover only about 3% of the average level of $1.54/ kg in 2016 due to dramatic drop in supplies. However, a slowdown in demand from China, together with lower oil prices will make the rubber prices difficult to have a good recovery.

As Lam Dong Province was aiming to expand the export of Da Lat flowers from the current 10 per cent of output to 30 per cent by 2020, greater efforts were needed.

According to Pham S, Deputy Chairman of the Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) province, a comprehensive renovation in investment strategy, and farming techniques to thinking of doing business of both farmers and enterprises, must be carried out to achieve the export goal.

Thai Nguyen tea is a popular choice for people when it comes to the Lunar New Year. This year, tea price is stable and does not increase much.

In recent years, in the month before Tet holiday, tea price normally rose from 50.000 to 100.000 VND/ kg. There were even some tea production bases and businesses providing market with tea products worth several million VND per kg.

Rubber prices are often directly proportional to the price of oil in the world market. Therefore, if oil prices continue to decline, the possibility that rubber  prices could drop to 20 million VND/ ton will happen in the near future.

In 2015, Vietnam exported 135.000 tons of pepper, crossed 1,26 billion USD. These numbers are 13% lower in volume and 5% higher in value compared to those in 2014. It is also the highest turnover ever for Vietnam pepper exports. The average export price of pepper reached 9.335 USD/tone and saw a 21,5 % increase compared to the same period in 2014.