VIENTIANE: The value of agricultural produce passing through the First Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge International Border Checkpoint in Vientiane in May totalled US$6.37 million.
The Department of Planning and Cooperation at the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment said the Lao-Thai border crossing is one of Laos’ main gateways for regional and international agricultural trade.
The exports comprised a diverse range of products, including plant products and wood products, with cassava starch, sugar-mixed flour, natural rubber, wooden altar tables, coffee beans, mangoes, cassava pulp, fresh mung beans, black pepper, dried tobacco leaves, rattan, peeled wood, plantation white damar resin, brewers’ spent grain, and herbal tea being the main items exported.
China was the largest recipient of produce exported from Laos in May, receiving significant volumes of unprocessed rubber, cassava starch, sugar-mixed flour, cassava pulp, mangoes, ground corn kernels, fresh mung beans, and herbal tea.
Japan continued to be an important market for value-added wood products, while Thailand imported cassava products, dried tobacco leaves, wood products, rattan, and other agricultural commodities.
Additional products were shipped to Vietnam, France, and the United States.
Among the leading export commodities were sugar-mixed flour weighing 5,695 metric tonnes and valued at US$2,819,625, exported to China.
Wooden altar tables weighing 2,030 metric tonnes and valued at US$2,856,025, were shipped to Japan.
Cassava starch weighing 2,940 metric tonness and valued at US$1,133,695 was exported to China, with additional shipments to Vietnam and Thailand. In addition, 839 metric tonnes of unprocessed rubber worth US$1,632,243, was sold to China, while 2,320 metric tons of cassava pulp valued at US$1,133,760 was exported to China, alongside smaller volumes shipped to Thailand.
Other notable exports included black pepper destined for France, premium coffee beans shipped to the United States, dried tobacco leaves sold to Thailand, and fresh mangoes, ground corn kernels, and fresh mung beans shipped to China. - Vientiane Times/ANN
