Vietnam shipped around 20,000 tons of tea in Jan-Mar 2007, earning US$19 million. Of the total, Taiwan consumed 3,517 tons, contributing nearly US$3 million.
Russia won second position, pouring US$2.55 million into buying 2,516 tons of Vietnamese tea, or 12.6 per cent.
China and Indonesia ranked third and fourth with total expenditure on Vietnamese tea reaching nearly US$1.2 million and US$1.1 million, bringing in 1,228 tons and 1,917 tons of products, respectively.
Exporting tea products to around 60 countries and territories worldwide, Vietnam is now the world’s sixth tea biggest exporter.
However, material or unprocessed tea now accounts for 80 per cent of total export volume.
With 33 product varieties, Vietnam offers diverse tea exports aimed at satisfying consumer requirements. Green, black, jasmine and Oolong tea are four products which account for up to 97 per cent of Vietnam tea product structure.
Nguyen Kim Phong, chairman of the Vietnam Tea Association (VITAS) said the association is striving to expand outlets and build up the Vietnamese tea trademark.
Vietnam expects to earn US$200 million from exporting 120,000 tons of tea by 2010,
The country plans to expand the current acreage of 125,000ha under tea tree cultivation to 150,000ha by that time. Thus, annual fresh tea bud output is expected to increase from 577,000 tons to 870,000 tons during this period.
VITAS forecasts that the volume of packaged tea exported to Russia will account for 30-50 per cent of Vietnam's tea output over the next three to five years.