Trade deficit swells to us$7.7 billion in jan-sept

The country’s export revenue reached US$8.3 billion while import turnover soared to US$9.3 billion in September, resulting in a trade deficit of US$1 billion this month and a total deficit of US$7.7 billion in January-September, gold trade excluded.

As reported by General Statistics Office, imports eased 3.6% month-on-month to US$9.3 billion in September, but it still surged by 31% year-on-year. Meanwhile exports reached US$8.3 billion, down 10.25% month-on-month but up 33.6% year-on-year.

Vietnam mainly imported automobiles, gas and oil, machinery, equipment, spare parts, electronic accessories, plastics, textile and footwear materials. Total import value in the year to date swelled to US$76.9 billion, a year-on-year surge of 26.9%.

The growing prices of key import items have driven the import value up. If excluding this factor, import turnover increased by a mild 9.4% against the same period last year.

In terms of export, key export items included clothing and textile products, crude oil, footwear, seafood, rice, coffee bean and rubber.

Similarly, soaring prices of key export items push the export value up. For instance, the export price of pepper is up 68.8% and rubber, coffee bean, crude oil and gasoline and cassava are up 56%, 53.1%, 46.5%, 40.9% and 23.5% respectively.

The price hike excluded, the export volume in the January-September period increased 13.35% over the previous year, the General Statistics Office reckoned.

At present, the U.S. is the biggest export market of Vietnam with the proportion of 17.8% of total export value, approximately US$11 billion, a 21.1% year-on-year increase.

Source Saigontimes Daily

Tags: Vietnam trade, Vietnam trade deficit 2011