Vietnam’s tea exports down in both volume and value
Vietnam exported 120,000 tonnes of tea in 2018, earning revenue of 219 million USD, year-on-year decreases of 8.4 percent in volume and 3.4 percent in value, respectively.
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| O Long tea being processed by workers at Cau Dat Tea Co in the central highland province of Lam Đong. - Photo vtv.vn (Source: vtv.vn) |
The figures were revealed by the Import and Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).
Among the ten main export markets of Vietnamese tea in 2018, Pakistan is the largest, with imports of 33,250 tonnes, reaching almost 72 million USD, increasing by 14.76 percent in volume and 15.88 percent in value. The average export price is 2,164.96 USD per tonne, up 0.98 percent against 2017.
Taiwan ranked second by importing 17,350 tonnes of tea from Vietnam, worth 26.81 million USD, increasing 7.26 percent in volume and 5.75 percent in value, but the average export price decreased by 1.41 percent compared to the previous year.
They are followed by Russia and China with 12,800 and 9,300 tonnes, respectively, down 17.43 percent and 9.21 percent, respectively. In addition, Vietnamese tea products are also exported to markets such as Poland, India, Germany and Turkey.
The main export products are black tea, green tea, tea marinated with flowers and oolong tea.
The department forecast that in 2019, tea export activities will continue to face many difficulties due to the pressure of oversupply in the world market. Many countries continue to expand production areas without paying attention to the fact that supply is outweighing market demand.
In 2019, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations estimates a surplus of about 75,000 tonnes of tea and this figure is expected to increase to 128,000 tonnes in 2020.
According to experts, to develop the tea industry, it is necessary to improve price competitiveness and pay more attention to product quality. Therefore, Vietnam’s tea exporters need to invest more in deep processing technology of tea products, mixing with other drinks to create diverse flavors, reducing substances that cause side effects in tea, to keep up with changes in tea consumption tastes around the world.
