Tea exports fall in Q1 due to COVID-19

HÀ NỘI – Việt Nam suffered a reduction of tea exports in the first quarter of this year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Việt Nam's tea exports in the first quarter declined by 2.5 per cent in volume to 26,000 tonnes. Photo congthuong

Its tea exports in the first quarter declined by 2.5 per cent in volume to 26,000 tonnes and by 19 per cent in value to US$37 million compared to the same period last year. Of which, exports reached 9,000 tonnes of tea in March, earning $12 million.

According to the Việt Nam Tea Association, the COVID-19 pandemic had greatly impacted many key export markets of Vietnamese tea. Especially, the tea exports to Taiwan, mainland China and Russia mostly stopped.

Meanwhile, partners in other markets asked to reduce prices or delay deadlines to receive tea exports and even cancel contracts. Local enterprises have been not able to sign new export contracts.

The ministry said in the first two months of this year, Pakistan, Russia, Taiwan, Indonesia and the US were the five major export markets of Việt Nam’s tea products, accounting for 74.5 per cent of total national tea export value.

Average export tea price in the first two months reached $1,481 per tonne, down 13.5 per cent compared to the same period in 2019.

The tea exports to China, one of the largest export markets for Vietnamese tea last year, dropped sharply in the first two months due to restrictions in customs clearance during the COVID-19 pandemic and long Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday.

Tea exports from Việt Nam to China in the two months fell by 54.1 per cent in volume to 364 tonnes and by 87.4 per cent in value to $427,000 year on year.

The reduction made China drop to 10th place in Việt Nam’s top 10 largest tea export markets from third place in the same period of last year.

The ministry also said in the domestic market, in March, the tea price in Thái Nguyên Province, one of the largest tea producers in Việt Nam, dropped by VNĐ5,000-10,000 per kilo to VNĐ130,000-220,000.

That price was stable at VNĐ9,500 per kilo in Lâm Đồng Province, another large tea producer.