Vietnam gained 438 million U.S. dollars from exporting nearly 1.3 million tons of cassava and cassava-based products in the first five months of this year, up 7.1 percent and 20.5 percent against the same period last year respectively, according to the country's General Statistics Office on Friday.

In May alone, the country shipped abroad some 230,000 tons of cassava and cassava-based products worth 80 million U.S. dollars, up 58.6 percent in volume and 38.3 percent in value on-year, according to the office.

China remained a key importer of Vietnamese cassava in the first five months of 2020, local newspaper Cong Thuong (Industry and Trade) on Friday cited the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as saying.

Vietnam exported nearly 2.5 million tons of cassava and cassava-based products worth 956 million U.S. dollars in 2019, up 2.9 percent in volume and down 0.2 percent in value on-year, mainly to China, Malaysia and the Philippines, according to its General Statistics Office.