8M trade surplus at $2.87bn

                                                                  Photo: Duc Anh

Exports up handsomely in first eight months as imports up just a little.

The General Department of Vietnam Customs has published trade figures for August, with total trade turnover at nearly $31.62 billion, an 8.1 per cent increase, or $2.37 billion, against July.

Exports reached $16.1 billion, 8 per cent higher compared to July, while imports were $15.5 billion, an 8.2 per cent increase. The trade surplus for the month was therefore $572 million.

In the first eight months of the year trade turnover totaled $223.6 billion, a 3.3 per cent increase year-on-year. Exports stood at $113.2 billion, up 6.4 per cent, and imports $110.34 billion, up 0.3 per cent.

Vietnam therefore recorded a trade surplus in the first eight months of $2.87 billion. The figure, though, is higher than the estimate of $2.54 billion from the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Total trade turnover of the FDI sector in August was $20.6 billion, up 9.5 per cent compared to July. Exports reached $11.23 billion, up 9 per cent, while imports were $9.3 billion, up 10.1 per cent.

In the first eight months the total trade turnover of the FDI sector stood at $143.9 billion, up 4.9 per cent year-on-year. Exports were $79 billion, up 9.3 per cent, and imports $64.97 billion, up just 0.1 per cent.

The trade surplus recorded by the FDI sector in the period was therefore more than $14 billion.

Trade turnover from domestic enterprises in the first eight months totaled $79.61 billion, up 0.5 per cent year-on-year. Exports were $34.24 billion, up 0.4 per cent, and imports $45.37 billion, up 0.6 per cent, for a trade deficit of $11.13 billion.

Some export products recorded significant growth, including mobile phones and accessories, textiles, computers, electronic products, and accessories, footwear, wood and wooden products, seafood, vehicles, and coffee. Those to fall included rice, by 16.6 per cent, and rubber.

In imports, products to see growth included computers, electronic products and accessories, iron and steel, and plastic.

As at the end of August the volume of iron and steel imports reached 12.36 million tons, up 24.9 per cent year-on-year. Due to average prices falling 20.3 per cent, however, import value stood at $5.13 billion, down 0.4 per cent year-on-year.

China is Vietnam’s major provider of iron and steel, with 7.3 million tons imported during the first eight months, up 22.1 per cent year-on-year, followed by Japan with 1.83 million tons, up 8.1 per cent, and South Korea with 1.18 million tons, up 3.3 per cent.

The import value of petroleum and machinery both fell significantly. In the first eight months Vietnam imported 7.96 million tons of petroleum worth $3.08 billion, up 23 per cent in volume year-on-year but down 16.3 per cent in value.

The volume imported from Singapore rose a significant 12.3 per cent year-on-year, to 3.05 million tons, followed by Malaysia with 2.23 million tons, up five-fold, and South Korea with 1.06 million tons, up 6.7-fold.

by Duy Anh / vneconomictimes.com