Pepper
exports to hit 100,000 tonnes
Viet Nam
exported 17,000 tonnes of pepper worth US$52 million in export turnover in the
first two months of the year, an increase of 10 per cent in volume and 33 per
cent in value over the same period last year.
Over 7,000
tonnes worth $23.5 million were exported in January and the figure jumped to
more than 9,000 tonnes or $28 million in February.
In January,
the US and Germany were the biggest consumer markets for Vietnamese pepper. The
US accounted for $3.8 million and Germany $3.51million of the total export
turnover.
The Viet Nam
Market Forecast and Analysis Joint Stock Company (Agromonitor) said that Viet
Nam’s pepper export sector is well placed to take advantage of inflated prices
which are approaching $3,000 per tonne, due to increased demand.
In addition,
this year, the world pepper market could be faced with a shortage in supply,
leading to an increase in demand, according to Agromonitor. As a result, the
price of pepper is forecast to continue to increase, promising high revenue for
domestic pepper exporters.
The Viet Nam
Pepper Association (VPA) said that this year, Viet Nam’s total pepper output
would hit 100,000 tonnes.
The
association recommended that domestic enterprises continue to try and increase
the amount of white pepper they export, given the fact it is worth 30 per cent
more than black pepper. In previous years, white pepper has accounted for only
20 per cent of the nation’s total pepper exports.
In 2009, the
country exported 135,000 tonnes of pepper worth $347 million, an increase of 49
per cent in volume and 11.46 per cent in value over 2008.
Fertiliser
factory to begin trial operation
Ninh Binh
Fertiliser Factory will start trial operations in April 2011 and official
operation next October, according to the Viet Nam Chemical Group.
The group
said it has invested VND5.51 trillion (US$290,000) over two years into the
construction of the factory.
"This
project is very important for the future of agricultural production. All
parties concerned with the project must focus on completing the construction of
the factory so it can be put into effective operation," said Deputy Prime
Minister, Hoang Trung Hai.
The Ministry
of Industry and Trade must continue to monitor progress and pay attention to
the quality of construction, Hai said. Meanwhile, the Viet Nam Development Bank
should ensure capital is available for the project.
The factory
will be equipped with cutting edge technology so it is important that the staff
are trained correctly, he said.
When the
factory goes into operation, it will churn out 560,000 tonnes of urea
fertiliser each year to distribute throughout the domestic agricultural sector
to ensure food safety.
The factory
together with Phu My nitrogenous fertiliser factory and the expanded Ha Bac
fertiliser factory will meet 60-70 per cent of domestic demand for the
fertiliser.
A total of
VND11 trillion ($579,000) has been invested into the project which started in
2008 in Ninh Phuc Industrial Zone in the northern province of Ninh Binh.
Furniture
makers told to focus on indoor products
The
provincial Binh Dinh People’s Committee on Wednesday urged local wooden
furniture makers to boost production of indoor products rather than deck
chairs, sun loungers and swings - which it said would be more lucrative.
There are
150 firms making wooden furniture in the central province of Binh Dinh, which
have a combined workshop area of more than 2 million square metre, according to
the committee.
The
companies, most of which are located in the Phu Tai 4 Industrial Zone, produce
about 50 per cent of the province’s total industrial output value, and about 60
per cent to its total export value. The enterprises employ more than 20,000
local workers.
"But
these enterprises are just mainly producing outdoor products, which have low
export value," Nguyen Van Thien, the committee’s chairman, said.
"These
workshops are not being efficiently run," he said.
Some firms,
such as Tien Dat, Dai Thanh and Pisico, have already started to shift their
focus to indoor furniture, but the majority of manufacturers are still
concentrating on making less profitable items, Thien said.
The
committee assigned the Department of Industry and Trade to co-operate with
relevant agencies and the Association of Wood and Forest Product Processing for
Export to introduce policies to encourage firms to make the transition to
producing indoor furniture, such as reducing rent and organising training
courses.
It asked the
department to submit its proposals by the end of next month.
Wood
export rules change
Vietnamese
wooden products makers have to conform to new US and EU laws on legal
exploitation of timber to be able to export their products to those markets, an
expert told a conference in HCM City yesterday.
Heiko
Woerner, technical advisor at the Germany-based GFA Consulting Group, said
under the Lacey Act, which becomes effective in April this year, all wood
products exported to the US must have certification showing they are legal.
Exporters,
thus, have to clearly know about their sourcing and cannot simply rely on
documents provided by sellers, he warned.
Violation of
this federal act can result in civil penalties of up to US$10,000, criminal
sanctions of up to $500,000 in fines for corporations and $250,000 for
individuals, and/or up to five years’ imprisonment, and the products could be
seized or destroyed, he said.
He said
Vietnamese companies should use robust risk management systems to assess the
risk of illegality and exercise extra care when buying forest products from
regions with known or suspected high rates of illegal logging.
"The
Lacey Act is a fact-based rather than a document-based statute. If imported
products turn out to be of illegal origin, this fact will override any
statement or document to the contrary.
"Therefore,
evaluating your suppliers and developing trust in them and the forest products
they provide is as important as obtaining papers." Vietnamese firms should
carefully consider the act’s provisions to avoid sanctions and safeguard their
prestige, he said.
More than
190 Vietnamese wood processing enterprises use chain of custody, a system that
allows tracing the furniture to the source of wood through the production
steps.
In the EU,
the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) will take effect next
year to encourage members to implement policies that favour timber from
sustainably managed forests and legal sources and to make voluntary partnership
agreements with producing countries.
The Vietnamese
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has set up a working group to
study and recommend actions once FLEGT takes effect.
In addition,
under the EU Due Diligence Regulation, which will be mandatory from January
2012, everyone selling timber to the EU will have to use a "checking"
system to ensure that wood is not illegal.
Importers
will seek information and proof of origin of timber from suppliers and will not
buy if the information is not provided.
The US was
Viet Nam’s largest market for wooden products last year, buying goods worth
$11.2 billion, followed by the EU with $9.3 billion.
Positive
outlook for Binh Duong real estate market
The property
market in southern Binh Duong Province has the potential to develop strongly
and even match the major cities of Ha Noi and HCM City in the rental segment,
says real estate services provider Savills Vietnam.
Savills
Vietnam has said it sees a positive outlook across the office, retail, hotel
and housing sectors as the southern province is "among Viet Nam’s leaders
in attracting foreign indirect investment."
The office
market segment is still new to the province. There are six projects offering
over 3,500sq.m of office space each with the provincial town of Thu Dau Mot
representing almost half of this and the remaining ones located in the
districts of Thuan An and Di An.
These three
localities are the most developed in Binh Duong.
Meanwhile,
demand is still limited as most companies, both domestic and foreign ones, have
their offices inside industrial parks.
In February,
the average rental rate was US$10 per square metre per month with an occupancy
of 47 per cent with four of the six put in use recently.
Another five
projects are planned in this segment, according to the report.
There are 12
supermarkets in the province at present, run by leading retailers like Vinatex,
Fivimart, Citimart and BD Mart. Four trading centres – the Saigon Factory
Outlet Mall, Thanh Le, Minh Sang Plaza and the Binh Duong Centre – are in
operation. Together the supermarkets and trading centers offer 49,000sq.m of
retail space.
Di An and
Thu Dau Mot account for 45 and 38 per cent respectively of total retail
acreage.
Construction
of the first Metro Cash & Carry Centre is expected to kick off later this
month in Thu Dau Mot and become operational in October.
Nine new
projects: five trading centres; three supermarkets; and one hypermarket, are
planned but their expected completion dates have not been announced. Five of
these projects will be in Thu Dau Mot, and the districts of Thuan An and Ben
Cat Districts will host two each.
There are
currently no four or five-star hotels in the province. However, one four-star
hotel is expected to come on line later this year in Thuan An District.
Eightprojects, most of them catering to tourists, are calling for investment.
There are 12
hotels of one to three-star standards offering 950 rooms. The three-star
hotels, mostly located in Thu Dau Mot, Di An and Thuan An, have 440 rooms on
offer. The room rate is US$24.2 per night for three-star hotels and US$11 and
US$10.4 for the two and one-star hotels respectively.
According to
the report, more entertainment services will help boost the hotel industry in
the province that hosts many industrial parks.
As of last
month, Binh Duong had 17 primary projects on offer, with six of them having
more than 4,800 housing land lots, another six with 1,650 villas and row houses
and five apartment projects of over 1,000 units. The average price per square
metre is US$608 for apartments, US$447 for land lots and US$132,000 for a villa
or a row house.
Twenty-six
other projects have already sold out their products. Eight apartment complexes
have sold 1,750 units, 14 villa and house combination projects have sold 3,600
units and the four remaining projects have sold 4,400 land lots.
The report
says that within a few years, around 12 projects with 5,200 apartments, two
villa/house projects with 440 units and one project with 500 land lots will
enter the market.
Binh Duong
has the highest population growth rate in Viet Nam, it has good infrastructure
systems, its industrial parks attract a strong workforce and its policy to
attract competent people will create strong housing demand in the near future,
according to the report.
Sheet
steel plant stake sold to Italian equipment supplier
Italian
Danieli Group has bought a 19.5 per cent stake in Viet Nam Steel Corporation’s
sheet steel plant being built in the Phu My area, 100km southern of HCM City.
The Danieli
Group is one of the world’s largest suppliers of equipment for steel production
projects. It has been in Viet Nam for 10 years.
According to
media reports, VN Steel chairman Dau Xuan Hung said Danieli would be in charge
of the plant’s equipment and will help finance the completion of the plant.
Danieli
Executive Vice President Antonello Mordeglia said the investment reflected his
group’s confidence in the country’s business environment and the capacity of
its Vietnamese partners.
The US$550
million sheet steel plant, located in the Phu My area, will have a capacity of
2 million tonnes a year when completed at the end of next year.
The four
major investors are Viet Nam Steel Corporation, Danieli Group, Viet Nam Rubber
Group and Da Nang Steel Company.
Deputy
Minister of Industry and Trade Le Duong Quang said the project would meet
domestic demand and thus cut imports.
It would
also help boost political and economic co-operation between Viet Nam and Italy.
Investment
in banking stocks to pay off when economy recovers
Banking
stocks are a good choice for long-term investment since the sector will benefit
when the economy recovers fully, Saigon Securities Inc has said in its latest
sector-wise advisory.
Though the
sector does face more challenges, opportunities are also increasing because
demand for banking services will pick up along with economic recovery, it says.
"Lower
credit growth in 2010 [25 per cent compared to 38 per cent in 2009] will be
offset by widened interest margin thanks to more flexible deposit and lending
rates.
"Earnings
growth of the sector will be sustained as two key earnings drivers, interest
income and fee income, will continue their momentum in 2010."
An analyst
also explained that since banking is among the economy’s most important
sectors, it attracts foreign investors.
Many banks
are also set to hit the market with share issues to expand their capital. But
smaller and less profitable banks like HDBank, WesternBank, and DaiA Bank could
face difficulty in finding buyers.
As a result,
HDBank plans to price its issue at par. Even the large, HCM City Stock
Exchange-listed Sacombank plans to sell at a mere VND5,000 premium.
The SSI
report also recommends the manufacturing sector with a focus on exports,
building materials, seafood, pharmaceuticals, and some property segments.
MIT
searches for green auto investment
Deputy Prime
Minister Hoang Trung Hai has assigned the Ministry of Industry and Trade to
study ways of attracting foreign investors to the fields of energy savings and
environmentally-friendly automobiles.
The ministry
should also consider the need for development in the area of minibuses and
report its findings to the Prime Minister for consideration.
In 2004, the
Prime Minister approved a six-year development plan for the automobile industry
proposed by Ngo Van Tru, deputy director of Heavy Industry at the Ministry of
Industry and Commerce, with a vision to 2020.
The first
phase of the plan has been completed successfully with the development of
trucks and buses.
The second
phase of the plan clearly defines the need to focus on minibuses. The number of
nine-seat minibuses should reach 50 for every 1,000 inhabitants between 2020
and 2025.
Deputy
Minister of Industry and Trade Le Duong Quang said that incentives were needed
to attract strategic investment to help Viet Nam’s automobile industry cope
with fierce competition from other regional countries.
The plan
will be beneficial to the country and consumers in terms of being
environmentally friendly and practical.
Source: VietNamNet/VNS