Exporting agricultural products to China by sea took the throne when the border gate was paralyzed

Exporting agricultural products to China by sea takes the throne when the border gate is paralyzed

While hundreds of container trucks are congested because customs clearance activities at border gates are almost paralyzed, agricultural products exported to China by sea are quite convenient, 2.5 times cheaper than border gates. .

The road is profitable but difficult

Although agricultural products exported by land are facing difficulties, export activities through sea border gates to China are still normal.

When the dragon fruit was in full harvest, instead of rushing to the border gates, causing local congestion, some cooperatives and enterprises turned to export dragon fruit by sea.

For example, in the dragon fruit capital of Binh Thuan, while many farmers and businesses are standing still because border markets and sub-border gates on the Chinese side have suspended transactions, causing the price of dragon fruit to decrease to only 3,000 - 5,000 VND/kg, Mr. Do Thanh Hiep, Director of Hoa Le Clean Dragon Fruit Cooperative still buys for people, packs and exports goods to China by sea.

Mr. Hiep said: "In the past, the cooperative also exported by border gate, but in recent years this method has not really been superior, so it has linked with businesses and switched to sea.

Besides, sea freight is cheaper than land, so many official exporters choose".

On average, the cooperative exports about 500-1,000 tons of dragon fruit every month, of which 50% goes to China. However, recently, China tightened quarantine regulations, causing exports to halve.

"The price of dragon fruit dropped sharply, most businesses, cooperatives and farmers all suffered losses and made no profit. The cooperative still buys for people but does not dare to buy much because the potential risk is too high", he said. Hiep said.

In fact, the official method of exporting to China by sea is showing advantages in this period of boiling water.

Price of dragon fruit, bananas and many other agricultural products dropped dramatically because China reduced imports (Photo: Consumers)

Share with the writer, Mr. Vu Trong Tue, General Director of Tan Nam Chinh Vietnam Cold Logistics said: "For a 40-foot container, the export price by road fluctuates around 75-80 million, while the road the sea is only under 30 million VND, 2.5 times lower.
In addition, the time it takes for the goods to arrive at the wharf only takes about 7 days, of which 4 days for the ship to run, 3 days for customs clearance, loading and unloading of goods. With this time, shipping by sea is equivalent or even faster when the border gates are congested".

According to Mr. Tue, enterprises exporting by sea must follow the official method, have agreements and contracts in advance. However, many businesses and cooperatives only think about how to sell goods, but have not considered how to make profits and optimize costs.

"The transformation from small quota to official quota is the process of changing the mindset of goods owners.

Economic thinking must be associated with the chain, enterprises cannot handle all stages of planting, preliminary processing, exporting... without being fluent in procedures, foreign languages, tax issues, and international trade.

Therefore, businesses should only stop at a certain corner and link with other units to increase professionalism", Mr. Tue said.

The COVID-19 epidemic has disrupted the global supply chain, affecting Vietnam's import and export activities in routes to Europe and America. However, the sea logistics of Vietnam and China are still quite favorable.

Therefore, Mr. Tue believes that businesses need to change the appropriate shipping method to help limit costs and ensure profits.

The border is paralyzed

After more than half a month of changing the delivery method at Tan Thanh border gate, cargo activities have gradually stabilized again. Every day, about 300 containers of agricultural products, mainly fresh fruits, are exported to your country.

However, there are still hundreds of containers that are still stuck, have not been cleared, and hundreds of other containers are stuck in your country after shipment.

Talking to VTV, Mr. Nguyen Huu Vuong, Deputy Director of the Customs Department of Lang Son province said: "Your country only has about 70 full-time drivers compared to the volume of goods through customs clearance of about 200-250 vehicles. /day, the force is still very much lacking.

We recommend to your side to let Vietnamese drivers go to China to drive our cars back".

The COVID-19 epidemic continues to develop complicatedly, exporting agricultural products to China through the border gates of Lang Son, Lao Cai, Cao Bang, Ha Giang... are all greatly affected, especially with goods. by means of a small quota, exchanging border residents.

Exporting goods to China faces many difficulties due to new Chinese regulations (Photo: VnEconomy)

Exchange with the writer, Mr. Vo Huy Hoang, Chairman of Binh Thuan Dragon Fruit Association said: "Exporting dragon fruit by border gate is facing many difficulties. As of September 6, the number of vehicles congestion, unable to export up to 1,000 vehicles, equivalent to 20,000 tons of agricultural products.

Businesses are carrying a lot of extra costs, it is difficult to endure if this situation lasts. Specifically, in the past, the average cost of a shipment to the border gate was about 57 million VND, now it has increased to about 70 million VND".

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the export of agricultural, forestry and fishery products to the Chinese market in 2020 decreased by 2.5% compared to 2019 to 8 billion USD, marking the 2nd consecutive year of exporting this group of products. to China decline.

The recent import regulations show that China is no longer an easy market... However, this is still a big and difficult customer of Vietnamese enterprises.