Bbc news business reporter

The high container shipping cost has caused difficulties for import/export companies. They believe that shipping firms joined hands to push service fees up. Phung Ngoc Sam, general director of Hanfimex, complained that the sea freight rates have been escalating rapidly since October 2020. The shipping rate for 40-feet container from Vietnam to Europe and the Mediterranean area has soared by 2-3 times and there is no sign of decrease. “It was just $2,000 in the past, but now $5,000. And it is sometimes $11,000,” he complained. The sharp rise in sea freight has made it difficult for import/export companies to execute their business plans and caused delays in export. It is estimated that 30 percent of goods planned for export have been stagnant. If the situation cannot be improved, this will push the cost of goods up. The buyers, who cannot release goods to the market, may put pressure on Vietnam’s import/export companies. According to Phan Thong, secretary general of the … [Read more...] about Goods owners say shipping freight costs are far too high

Illustrative image (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Import-export value of agro-forestry-fisheries products hit nearly 11 billion USD in the first two months of 2021, resulting in 1.37 billion USD in trade surplus, up 28.4 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). The ministry reported that a year-on-year rise was recorded in the export value of many products such as rubber , tea , cashew, vegetables and fruit and forestry products. In the first two months of this year, the US remained the largest market of Vietnamese agro-forestry-fisheries products with 2.04 billion USD, up 57.3 percent year on year and accounting for 33.05 percent of the market share. It was followed by China, ASEAN, the EU, Japan and the Republic of Korea. The export value of aquatic products reached 405 million USD in February, pushing the figure in the first two months of 2021 to over 1 billion USD, up 2.2 percent over the same period last year, … [Read more...] about Trade surplus from agro-forestry-fisheries hit 1.37 billion USD in two months

A corner of Bac Giang city (Photo: VNA) Bac Giang (VNA) – The northern province of Bac Giang is improving a master plan on the development of industrial parks (IPs) and complexes, as well as land use planning, according it its provincial Party Committee. The province is also refining a master plan on urban areas for the 2021-2030 period to attract investment. It built a project on supporting start-ups in the locality, towards strongly developing private economy, and issued a list of projects in need of investment in the fields of agriculture and rural development. The locality considered building mechanisms to support investment in hotel construction projects and hi-end services. In particular, Bac Giang will step up administrative reform , improve the provincial competitiveness index, pool resources to build key socio-economic infrastructure while enhancing the quality of human resources and State management on projects. The province will actively assist … [Read more...] about Bac Giang betters master plan on IPs development

Tra fish processed for export (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamese enterprises should take advantage of online marketing channels, re-arrange production and business orientations and strategies, and bring into full play advantages brought by free trade agreements if they want to achieve sustainable export growth , according to insiders. Statistics of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) shows that Vietnam’s import-export value reached 95.8 billion USD in the first two months of 2021, up 24.5 percent year-on-year. Of the total, exports were valued at 48.55 billion USD, up 23.2 percent, and imports 47.26 billion USD, up 25.9 percent. During January-February, Vietnam enjoyed a trade surplus of 1.29 billion USD, down from the 1.8 billion USD seen in the same period last year. The domestic sector posted a trade deficit of 4.14 billion USD, while the FDI sector, including crude oil, saw a trade surplus of 5.43 billion USD. At the Government’s February regular … [Read more...] about Insiders make suggestions to maintain sustainable export growth

E-commerce platforms are effective tools that can help farmers reduce losses when there is an oversupply of produce and sales are slow. In Gia Loc district in Hai Duong province on March 2, the roads were very quiet even though in a few hours the social isolation order would expire (at 0:00 on March 3). Somewhere in the fields were farmers who were still doing their daily work. For them, their fields must be taken care of every day. With more than 93,000 hectares of agricultural land, accounting for 56.5% of the total area, Hai Duong is among provinces with a large agricultural production area. Its main agricultural products are vegetables, fruits, livestock and poultry. Before the pandemic, the biggest difficulty for local farmers was the connection between producers and consumers. During the pandemic, because of the blockade and restriction of means of travel, the difficulties multiplied. Born into a … [Read more...] about E-commerce platforms help “rescue” agricultural products