The export value of Vietnam's agricultural, forestry and seafood sector is forecast to reach 13. 67 billion U.S. dollars in the first six months of 2012, a year-on- year increase of 14.5 percent, reported the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) of Vietnam on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the sector spent nearly 8.1 billion U.S. dollars for the imports of spare parts and raw materials in service of the sector's production, hence posting a trade surplus of 5.57 billion U.S. dollars during the period, said the ministry in a report posted on its website on Tuesday.

Of the total export value, agricultural exports earned nearly 7. 7 billion U.S. dollars (up 9.6 percent year-on-year), while seafood exports bagged nearly 2.9 billion U.S. dollars (up 10.6 percent) and forestry exports with 2.3 billion U.S. dollars (up 22. 9 percent).

Among seven major agricultural exports, only pepper maintained high prices, while the others saw declining prices. During the six- month period, the country exported 73,000 tons of pepper, worth 494 million U.S. dollars. Although the volume slightly rose by 4.3 percent, the value surged to 31.7 percent, year-on-year. The average price for pepper exports reached 6,811 U.S. dollars per ton, up 28.9 percent compared to the same period last year.

About 3.7 million tons of rice, worth 1.7 billion U.S. dollars were exported in the first six months, a year-on-year decrease of 8.8 percent in volume and 13.5 percent in value. The average price of rice exports declined during the period, reaching 464 U.S. dollars per ton, down 5.7 percent compared with the same period last year. China was the country's biggest rice importer, with an increase of 4.6 folds in volume and 3.8 folds in value over the same period last year. Malaysia ranked second, with demand rising up nearly 20 percent.

Coffee exports during the first half of this year reached 1.1 million tons, worth 2.3 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of 26.5 percent in volume and 20.4 percent in value. The country's two leading coffee importers are Germany (accounting for 12.9 percent of the country's coffee export value) and the United States (12.5 percent). In particular, Indonesia's import of Vietnamese coffee surged, with eight times higher than the previous year.

Over 412,000 tons of rubber exports brought the country with 1. 3 million U.S. dollars, up 42.5 percent in volume, but down 0.3 percent in value. Demands on rubber products continued to increase in such market as China (up 31.2 percent), Malaysia (over three folds), China's Taiwan (up 59.5 percent), and India (6.5 folds).

The country also earned 86 million U.S. dollars from 61,000 tons of tea exports, up 13.7 percent in volume and 9.9 percent in value year-on-year, 666 million U.S. dollars from 97,000 tons of cashew exports, up 41.2 percent in volume and 26.6 percent in value, making the country on top the list of the world's cashew exporters. Demands from major foreign markets continued to rise, including the United States (accounting for 37.7 percent of the country's total cashew export value), China (26.3 percent) and Holland (17.4 percent).

Meanwhile, the sector spent nearly 8.1 billion U.S. dollars for the imports of raw materials and spare parts in service of production, an increase of 7.1 percent year-on-year. Of which, 636 million U.S. dollars were for the imports of 1.4 million tons of fertilizer, 356 million U.S. dollars for insecticide, and 1 billion U.S. dollars for animal feed and materials for the production of animal feed, among others.

Imports of wood-based products and materials cost 714 million U. S. dollars, up 17.7 percent year-on-year, reported MARD.