Viet Nam earned some US$321 million from fruit and vegetable exports in January 2018, a year-on-year increase of 36.9 per cent, says the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

China, Japan, the United States and the Republic of Korea remained the biggest importers of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables in the month. Other markets with strongly soaring fruit and vegetable imports from Viet Nam were Japan (69.3 per cent), the United Arab Emirates (56.3 per cent) and China (52.4 per cent).

Viet Nam, meanwhile, imported $152 million worth of these commodities in January, of which fruits accounted for 76 per cent.

MARD said the domestic fruit market saw great fluctuations, with a rise in the price of dragon fruit in the Mekong Delta region.

The trend is expected to continue in the lead-up to the Tet (Lunar New Year) festival.

Prices of star apple and jack fruit also climbed up, reaching VND15,000 (US 7 cents) and VND43,000 ($1.9) per kg, due to increasing demand for these two fruits in the United States and China, respectively.

Meanwhile, the price of orange in the Mekong Delta region fell dramatically due to abundant supply and crop disease.

Prices of several vegetables also dropped in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong due to high supply fuelled by favourable weather.

For instance, the price fell by VND500 per kilo to VND3,000 for cabbage; by VND2,000 per kilo to VND8,000 for tomatoes, and by VND2,000 per kilo to VND20,000 for broccoli against the prices in the beginning of January 2018.

In 2017, Viet Nam achieved a year-on-year surge of 40.5 per cent in the export value of vegetables and fruits to $3.45 billion. — VNS