Export turnover tops $6b in January

Viet Nam’s total export and import turnovers totalled US$13 billion in January with export revenues of $6 billion, causing a trade deficit of $1 billion for the month, equivalent to 17 per cent of the total revenue, the General Statistics Office announced.

To the $6 billion export revenue, the foreign invested enterprises contributed $3.173 billion (including crude oil), a rise of 10.9 per cent while the rest was made by the domestic sector.

Meanwhile, the domestic sector imported the most in January at $4.1 billion, an increase of 13 per cent, due to their strong demand for production materials and equipment.

Although the export and import revenues saw a decline of 20 per cent and 19.8 per cent respectively in comparison with December last year, they rose 18 per cent and 15.5 per cent compared with the same period last year, the statistics office’s department of trade director Le Minh Thuy said.

The strong rise in export in December happened as Vietnamese exporters tried to fulfil their contracts signed with international importers.

Meanwhile, January’s exports were not able to match December.

However, in comparison with the same period last year, the export turnover still increased, driven by machinery and equipment. Total export turnovers from electronics, computer; machinery, equipment, tools and accessories, wire and cable wire, transportation and assessories rose by 86.6 per cent.

Several other agricultural products, including cassava, cassava products and pepper also experienced a significant hike in export revenues. However, rice and tea saw a decline.

Textile and garments, wood and wood products, and ceramics’ export turnovers experienced an increase and all export commodities gained from a rise in prices.

According to the statistics office, the month’s trade deficit rose slightly compared with the figure of $926 million in January last year. This month’s figure declined by 18.8 per cent from last month’s $1.23 billion.

Imports of completely built unit automobiles surged dramatically by 95 per cent.

Imports in petrol, cotton and fibre were also significant this month with a rise of 50 per cent. Cloth, textile and garments and footwear accessories increased from 17 to 20 per cent.

Steel import increased nearly 28 per cent but other metals decreased by 8 per cent. Meanwhile, import of electronic components and computers rose by 26 per cent.

The total export and import revenues might fall next month due to the long Tet holiday, Thuy said.

He said Viet Nam’s key major export markets were still the US, EU and ASEAN.

The statistics office also announced that last year’s official export and import turnovers were more than $72.03 billion and $84.3 billion respectively. As a result, the trade deficit was at $12.27 billion.

In December last year, the export turnover was nearly $7.5 billion while import revenue stood at $8.73 billion. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam export turnover, Vietnam exports