The value of farm, forest and seafood exports declined year-on-year by 1.7 per cent to reach US$13.53 billion in the first half this year.—File Photo

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The value of farm, forest and seafood exports declined year-on-year by 1.7 per cent to reach US$13.53 billion in the first half this year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

Nguyen Thi Hong, head of MARD's Planning Department, said exports had often achieved high growth in recent years due to high demand, but since mid-2012, demand and prices on the world market had dropped.

During the first half of this year, the export value of most farm products, including rice, coffee, latex, tea and cassava, fell 10.5 per cent to reach $7.59 billion.

Coffee exports showed the largest drop, 24.2 per cent in volume and 22.4 per cent in value, followed by cassava with a fall of 29.4 per cent in volume and 15 per cent in value, latex with 5 per cent in volume and 20 per cent in value and rice with 7 per cent in volume and 10 per cent in value.

Meanwhile, the value of seafood exports reached $2.88 billion for the first half this year, unchanged against the same period last year.

However, the value of forestry exports rose by 12.4 per cent to $2.31 billion in the first six months.

The overall decline in exports was also reflected in a decline in domestic consumption of farm products.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat said the farming, forestry and seafood industries should closely control exports to foreign countries, such as the European Union, South Korea, Japan, Russia and China, to ensure quality was maintained. — VNS