HANOI, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and fishery product exports between January and May fell 11.1 percent from a year earlier to an estimated 20.26 billion U.S. dollars, Vietnam News reported on Wednesday.
Shipments to key markets, including China, Japan and other Asian countries, gradually regained the growth momentum, said the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
However, due to global economic uncertainties and tightened monetary policy in the United States and European Union to tame inflation, businesses found it hard to secure orders, the agriculture ministry noted.
Rice exports increased by 49 percent over the period compared to a year ago due mainly to significant price gains and robust demand.
Vietnam's fruit and vegetable exports rose 29 percent to 1.9 billion U.S. dollars on expanded sales of durian, dragon fruit and banana, local media VnExpress reported.
Among the top export earners, meat and by-products climbed 59 percent in the first five months from a year earlier. Coffee exports inched up 0.2 percent after a year-on-year contraction of 2.3 percent in the first quarter as coffee prices rose on the prospect of tighter global supplies.
Meanwhile, aquatic and wood products continued to suffer some downturn as new orders have tumbled between 50 percent and 60 percent since the beginning of the year.
China, the United States and Japan remained Vietnam's biggest export markets of agro-forestry-aquatic products in the January-May period.
Exports to China accounted for 20.4 percent of the total export turnover, up 2.9 percent from the same period last year, followed by the United States with 19.8 percent, down 35.2 percent, and Japan with 7.8 percent, down 1.2 percent, according to the agriculture ministry. ■