Of the five-month total, the value of agricultural product exports reached $2.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 32 per cent, and forest product exports were worth $1 billion, an increase of 21 per cent.

The increase came from a solid growth of pepper, coffee and wooden product exports, the ministry said.

In May, the export value of the country’s agricultural and forest products was $765 million, 20 per cent higher than last May, including $546 million from agricultural exports and $203 million from forest product exports.

The ministry said that coffee accounted for the largest portion of the total export value of agricultural products at 42 per cent, with a value of $1.1 billion in the first five months of this year.

Coffee is the first agricultural product to reach an export value of more than $1 billion.

The strong growth in coffee exports was due to the high and rising price of coffee, especially at the end of May.

The export value of rubber, cashews and pepper also rose in the first five months of this year compared with the same period last year; $433 million for rubber, up 8 per cent; $197 million for cashews, up 12.5 per cent; and $110 million for pepper, up 27 per cent.

Meanwhile, the export of rice – usually a strategic agricultural export for Viet Nam – declined in value and volume in the first five months.

The decline resulted from difficulties in leasing ships for transporting rice, an increase in freight charges and bad weather hindering the loading of rice bags onto ships.

Rice exports were 1.8 million tonnes and valued at $580 million to the end of May, a decline of 21 per cent in volume and 8 per cent in value from the same period last year.

The ministry expected tea exports would not reach its 2007 target, even though export volume and value increased in the first five months, because the quality of exported tea has yet to improve.

The country exported 38,000 tonnes of tea, a year-on-year increase of 13 per cent, valued at $35 million, up 8 per cent