Vietnam's rubber export revenue down 11.7 pct in 2013

HANOI, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam earned some 2.5 billion U.S. dollars from exporting over 1 million tons of rubber in 2013, down 11.7 percent year-on-year in value and up 6.7 percent in volume, said Vietnam's General Statistics Office on Wednesday.

In December alone, the country sold 140,000 tons of rubber to overseas market, pocketing 307 million U.S. dollars, said the office.

China maintained the largest importer of Vietnamese natural rubber in 2013 as importing 400,000 tons worth 280 million U.S. dollars, accounting for about 50 percent of Vietnamese rubber exports.