Cassava exports double this year ....

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Cassava exports double this year ....

Cassava exports double this year

Published on : September 13th, 2011

Cassava has been listed as a key agricultural export, with the industry exporting 158,000 tonnes, worth a total value of US$36 million in September.

"While other agricultural and forestry products have witnessed a downturn, the cassava industry has recently seen growth in both value and volume," said Duong Long Tri, deputy head of IT and Statistics Centre under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Tri said that total cassava export volume in the first nine months of the year totalled $473 million, double the number in the same period last year.

Demand for cassava from importers has increased as it can be used to process feed and produce ethanol-blended petrol.

"As the third biggest ethanol-blended petrol producer in the world [following US and Brazil], mainland China has huge demand for cassava. This market is recovering, so demand has increased," said Tri.

It was estimated that China needs to import about 6.5 million tonnes of cassava per year, he said, adding: "China is the biggest importer of Vietnamese cassava. It imports about 90 per cent of Vietnamese export cassava volume."

The other big importers of Vietnamese cassava include Taiwan and South Korea.

As demand has recently increased, cassava export prices have sharply risen.

In 2008, the average price of cassava was VND3 million ($165) per tonne. It declined at the end of 2008 and at the beginning of 2009 it rose to VND2 million ($111) per tonne.

However, with the global economy recovering, cassava price has risen. At Sai Gon Port, cassava prices are now running at $180 to $195 per tonne.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the country can harvest about 8.1-8.6 million tonnes of cassava this year, a 0.3 million tonne improvement on last year.

Of this, 22.4 per cent will be used to process feed. About 16.8 per cent is for handicraft production, and 12.2 per cent is used as fresh food. The remaining 48.6 per cent, equivalent to 4 million tonnes, will be used for export.

With stockpiles from 2008 taken into account, the country will be able to export from 4.5 million to 5 million tonnes of cassava.

While higher prices have brought profits to farmers, it is creating a new problem.

In the last two years, farmers have planted cassava trees in response to good prices.

In 2006, total cassava cultivation covered 270,000ha in total. Now 510,000ha is devoted to the crop, exceeding the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's plan.

According to the ministry, Viet Nam currently has 60 cassava manufacturers. These manufacturers need about 2.5 million tonnes of cassava per year.

Source: VNS

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