Source: vneconomy.vn
According to statistics from the General Department of Customs, in August 2022, tea exports reached 12 thousand tons, worth 21 million USD, down 4% in volume, but up 0.8% in value compared to July/July. 2022; over the same period last year increased 16% in volume and 22.6% in value.
AVERAGE EXPORT ONLY PRICE GET MORE THAN 1,700 USD
Generally, in the first eight months of 2022, the whole country exported 78 thousand tons of tea, worth $135 million, down 2.2% in volume, but up 1.6% in value over the same period in 2021.
The situation of social distancing due to the outbreak of the disease in August 2021 disrupted production and export activities of many industries, including tea. This leads to the volume and value of tea exports in August 2021 at the lowest level compared to the average of many years. Therefore, the export volume and value of tea in August 2022 increased sharply compared to August 2021, but still decreased slightly in volume, but increased in value compared to July 2022 due to price increase.
In the structure of tea exports in the first seven months of 2022, green tea and black tea are the two main export categories, accounting for 89% of the total export volume. While export green tea recorded growth in both volume and value, the export of black tea dropped sharply, reaching 28,000 tons, worth $41.2 million, down 15.3% in volume and down 12.6% in value over the same period in 2021.
Notably, the export of oolong tea in the first 7 months of 2022 only accounts for a small proportion of the total amount of tea exported, but the volume and value increased very strongly, reaching 338 tons, worth 11 million USD, up 69. 7% in volume and 162.9% in value over the same period in 2021. The average export price of oolong tea reached 3,016.4 USD/ton, up 54.9% over the same period in 2021. oolong exports to Taiwan and China account for 97% of total oolong tea exports.
In the first 7 months of 2022, Pakistan is the main export market of Vietnam’s tea, reaching 26.2 thousand tons, worth 49.6 million USD, up 21.9% in volume and 17.9% in value. with the same period in 2021. Notably, tea exports to the US, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia increased strongly. Exports to Saudi Arabia had the highest growth with an increase of 60%, followed by Malaysia with an increase of 28%.
The strong growth rate in tea exports to these markets shows that Vietnam’s tea has met the demanding needs of consumers. Opportunities for Vietnamese tea exporters are huge, as these markets are all major global tea import markets.
STRUCTURING PRODUCTS ONLY MORE REASONABLE
According to information from worldstopexports.com, in 2021, the United States is the second largest tea import market in the world after Pakistan, reaching 531.8 million USD, accounting for 8.1% of the total import value of the world. The authorities forecast that the demand for tea will continue to increase in 2022-2023, creating opportunities for Vietnam’s production of this agricultural product. Research by the American Tea Association said that due to inflation, consumers have turned to more tea, instead of expensive drinks.
Although there is great potential, but according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, currently, tea materials supplied to processing factories are mainly from low quality tea varieties. Up to 70% of Vietnam’s tea varieties are only suitable for processing black tea, the proportion of varieties for processing green tea and other teas accounts for only 30%.
Due to the unreasonable variety structure, black tea is still the main product in Vietnam’s tea export with 55% of output, green tea accounts for 44%, other teas only accounted for 1%. Meanwhile, in the world, the structure of black tea varieties accounts for only approximately 10%; varieties that can process both black and green tea accounted for 44.2%; varieties specializing in green tea processing accounted for 21.2%; varieties for processing oolong tea and other high-grade teas account for nearly 25%.
In addition, there are many shortcomings in the processing and consumption of tea. The number of enterprises investing in high quality tea, meeting the market’s requirements is still modest.
Before the above limitations, Ms. Do Thi Bich Thuy, an expert from the Institute of Industry and Trade Policy Strategy, said that in order to increase the selling price and export value of tea, it is necessary to focus on improving productivity and quality. through the conversion of old tea varieties to new tea varieties. It is necessary to restructure the ratio of black tea and green tea appropriately to ensure meeting both domestic and international markets. It is necessary to support trade promotion and promote the export of tea and deep-processed tea products to high-income markets such as Japan, Taiwan, Korea, EU, and the United States.
