Vietnamese tea exports rebound with sharp increase to China

By：Xinhua Update：2016-12-13

HANOI, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's tea exports rebounded in the first 11 months of 2016, stopping continuous falling trend in 2014 and 2015, according to the Vietnam Tea Association (Vitas) on Tuesday.

Vitas Vice Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Anh Hong was quoted by the Vietnam Economic Times as saying that the country's tea exports have improved remarkably from sluggish performance in the previous two years.

In the 11-month period, Vietnam exported 118,000 tons of tea to pocket 197 million U.S. dollars, up 7.1 percent in volume and 4.3 percent in value year-on-year.

The country witnessed positive developments in tea shipping to its major markets, including Pakistan, China, Indonesia and Malaysia.

From January to November, Pakistan consumed 33.5 percent of Vietnam's tea exports, maintaining the largest tea consumer.

Meanwhile, other markets saw sharp increase including China (with 2.09 times as much as that in the same period last year), Indonesia (2.01 times), and Malaysia (44.7 percent year-on-year).

Currently, Vietnam's tea export price stands at 1,656 U.S. dollars per ton, posting a decrease of 13.9 percent year-on-year.

Despite managing to strengthen control of pesticide residues, the country's tea sector is struggling against inherent limitations including low productivity, loose connectivity between farmers and companies, and lack of brand building, said Hong.