Coconut export enter acceleration cycle

	Vietnam's coconut exports to rise remarkably thanks to shipments to China
	Opening of overseas markets boosts coconut exports

Raw coconuts are processed on Betrimex's production line. Photo: TL

Aiming for a billion-dollar turnover

With an area of ​​nearly 200,000 hectares, the coconut industry is becoming one of the key economic sectors in the Central coastal provinces and the Mekong Delta. From a modest figure of only US$ 180 million in export turnover in 2010, the coconut industry has grown strongly, reaching more than US$ 900 million in 2023 and is expected to surpass the US$ 1 billion mark in 2024.

In the coming time, the coconut industry is expected to enter a new development cycle with remarkable growth thanks to positive steps such as the US and Europe approving Vietnamese coconuts, along with the negotiation process with China on official export. In particular, China is currently a very important market for coconuts, with an annual consumption of about 4 billion coconuts, including about 2.6 billion fresh ones... While the demand is large but China's production capacity is limited, this is an opportunity for Vietnamese coconuts.

Known as the “coconut capital”, Ben Tre currently has more than 80,000 hectares of coconut, accounting for nearly 42% of the country’s coconut area. Mr. Huynh Quang Duc, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ben Tre, said that the signing of the Protocol on exporting fresh coconuts to the Chinese market marked a milestone in the development of coconut products for drinking, helping to boost the business of coconut growers, creating initial results when coconut prices were more stable and many enterprises came to Ben Tre to invest and develop, helping to boost the province’s socio-economic development.

Mr. Duc said that coconut export brought in more than US$ 350 million to Ben Tre each year. After the assessment in November 2024, the province currently had 133 coconut growing areas granted growing area codes with an area of ​​nearly 8,400 hectares and 14 enterprises granted codes for packaging facilities exporting fresh coconuts to the Chinese market. Currently, many enterprises had registered for additional growing area codes or expanded growing areas for export to China.

Mr. Le Thanh Hoa, Deputy Director of the Department of Quality, Processing and Market Development, also said that since the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development included coconut in the list of key industrial crops, the coconut industry had changed significantly. However, when the Trade Agreements were signed, the coconut export tax rate was reduced to 0%, which was a favourable condition but could also be a challenge if there was no specific strategy. Therefore, the Government and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development had issued many policies to develop the coconut industry, and localities should take advantage of these policies to support people's production activities.

Greener, higher value

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy, Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Environment, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, pointed out that, in addition to the production and export of fresh coconuts, the coconut processing industry had developed strongly, currently accounting for more than 70% of export value.

Co Co Vietnam Food Joint Stock Company (Vinacoco) is one of the typical enterprises in deep processing in the coconut industry, producing 15,000 tons of coconut jelly per year. Currently, Vinacoco's coconut jelly products have been exported to 22 countries, including many demanding markets such as Japan, Korea, Europe... Similarly, products such as canned coconut water, coconut milk, coconut oil... of Ben Tre Import-Export Joint Stock Company (Betrimex) have also been exported to many markets.

Not only exploiting raw materials of coconut water and coconut meat to produce and process food and cosmetics, by-products of coconut trees such as coconut covers, coconut shells… are also used by many enterprises such as Kim Boi Company, Tra Bac Company… as raw materials to produce handicraft products, activated carbon… and are very positively received by the international market. Accordingly, coconut trees are considered to be a type of tree that almost does not waste anything, which is also an important premise in the task of developing circular agriculture.

Sharing about the development of the coconut processing industry, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Thanh, President of the Vietnam Coconut Association, said that out of more than 200,000 hectares of coconut trees nationwide, 120,000 hectares served the processing industry. However, enterprises were currently facing major challenges from the "bleeding" of raw materials to other markets such as Thailand, China… "Many enterprises have invested in facilities and factories in Ben Tre, but the supply of raw materials is not enough, leading to having to stop operations or operate at a low capacity with only 10-15%", Ms. Thanh said.

According to Ms. Thanh, the cause of this "bleeding" of raw materials comes from the export tax rate of raw coconuts at only 0%. This creates an advantage for exporting raw materials but causes heavy damage to the domestic processing industry. Meanwhile, countries with large sources of coconut materials have policies to protect raw materials for the domestic production industry. Specifically, the Philippines has applied a policy of not exporting raw coconut materials abroad, or Indonesia will impose an export tax of up to 80% on raw coconut materials from January 1, 2025... Therefore, Ms. Thanh believes that it is necessary to soon have a tax policy, creating a tariff barrier to retain coconut materials, supporting the development of the domestic processing industry.

In addition to promoting deep processing, developing according to ESG standards and sustainable development is also a promising direction for the coconut industry, which is being actively implemented by localities and enterprises. Typically, in Ben Tre, an organic coconut material area of ​​nearly 21,000 hectares has been built. This locality has also formed a value chain closely linked with 8 large enterprises, with modern processing technology, processing and exporting organic coconut products to many markets such as: US, EU, Japan, China, Korea, Canada...

Notably, many enterprises in the coconut industry with a sustainable development orientation have received positive support from international markets and partners. In particular, Betrimex has received a green credit from United Overseas Bank (Vietnam) Limited thanks to its compliance with ESG principles.