India, the United States, and Indonesia all represented the three main import markets of Vietnamese cinnamon with 2,464 tonnes, 1,156 tonnes, and 810 tonnes, respectively.

The past eight months of the year witnessed the country export 62,918 tonnes of cinnamon for US$177 million, marking an increase of 1.7% in volume but a drop of 3.5% in value compared to the same period last year.

India represented the largest import market of Vietnamese cinnamon with 20,772 tonnes during the January to August period, down 24% year on year.

This was followed by the United States with 7,399 tonnes, marking an annual increase of 8%.

Others among the top five consumers were Bangladesh with 6,238 tonnes, up 35.2%; Indonesia with 4,110 tonnes, up 121.4%; and the United Arab Emirates with 1,633 tonnes, up 91.4%.

Cinnamon is mainly grown in Vietnam, China, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. Cinnamon cultivation is currently the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of ethnic minority households in remote localities.

The spice has many uses in production and general life, such as being used in flavouring, medicine, to process food, raise livestock and poultry, or used as fertilizer.