HANOI, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam gained nearly 2.3 billion U.S. dollars from exporting 243,000 tons of cashew nuts in the first eight months of this year, up 2.5 percent in value and 8 percent in volume on-year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said on Thursday.

In the same period, Vietnam shipped abroad over 1.3 million tons of coffee worth nearly 2.5 billion U.S. dollars, up 14.8 percent in volume but down 3.1 percent in value.

Meanwhile, the country sold overseas 80,000 tons of tea worth 131 million U.S. dollars, witnessing respective year-on-year drops of 11.3 percent and 8.6 percent. It also earned 585 million U.S. dollars from selling offshore 175,000 tons of pepper, up 4 percent in volume but down 35.2 percent in value.

Vietnam earned over 3.5 billion U.S. dollars from exporting 352,205 tons of cashew nuts, mainly to the United States, the Netherlands and China, in 2017, while importing 1.1 million tons of raw cashew from Africa, said the ministry.