Illustrative image. (Source: VNA)

With import value of 14.93 billion USD, Vietnam posted a trade surplus of about 2.2 billion USD, down 41.1 percent year-on-year, according to the ministry.

The export value of main agricultural products was estimated at 5.9 billion USD, up 9 percent year-on-year, while the figure for key forestry products was 5.33 billion USD and fisheries products 2.39 billion USD, increases of 50.9 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively, year-on-year.

Upturns were seen in the export of many products, including rubber (nearly 112 percent), tea (nearly 8 percent), rice (1.2 percent), fruit and vegetables (9.5 percent), cassava and cassava products (24 percent), breeding products (37.4 percent), tra fish (nearly 3 percent), shrimp (5.5 percent), and furniture (over 71 percent).

Falls, meanwhile, were recorded in the export value of coffee, at 11.6 percent, and cashew nuts, at 7.8 percent.

Asian markets consumed 46.9 percent of Vietnam’s agro-forestry-fisheries products during the period, while the Americas accounted for 27.6 percent, Europe 10 percent, Oceania 1.4 percent, and Africa 1.4 percent.

The four leading markets were the US, China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.

Vietnam also spent 5.01 billion USD in the first four months on importing agro-forestry-fisheries products, with 1.38 billion USD outlaid on breeding products, 679 million USD on aquatic products, 997.4 million USD on major forestry products, and 2.31 billion USD on input materials.

The ministry will continue to keep domestic firms informed about new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) regulations in major export markets, while maintaining its close watch over the production, price, and supply of farm produce in localities around the country./.

BTA