Vietnam trade surplus narrows sharply in September

A container ship leaving International Container Terminal Tan Cang - Cai Mep, in the southern Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province. Photo by Shutterstock/Domicile Media.

A strong rise in imports could narrow Vietnam’s September trade surplus to $500 million from a surplus of $3.44 billion in August.

Exports in September are likely to rise 9 percent year-on-year to $23 billion, while imports will likely rise 15.6 percent to $22.5 billion, according to the latest figures released by the General Statistics Office (GSO).

For the first nine months, exports are forecast to increase 8.2 percent year-on-year to $194.3 billion, while imports go up 8.9 percent to $188.4 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $5.9 billion, up 4 percent year-on-year, the GSO reported.

The domestic and FDI sectors accounted for 30.7 percent and 69.3 percent of the nation’s Jan-Sept exports respectively.

In the nine-month period, phones, electronics, computers and components, textiles and garments, footwear and machinery continued to be the biggest revenue earners.

Phones and components brought in $38.6 billion, accounting for 19.9 percent of total export turnover, up 5 percent year-on-year.

The U.S. was Vietnam’s largest export market with a turnover of $44.9 billion, up 28.2 percent year-on-year, followed by EU, China, ASEAN, Japan and South Korea.

Imports of electronics, computers and components reached $38.6 billion, surging 23 percent over last year, and accounting for 20.5 percent, the highest proportion of imports. It was followed by imports of machinery, phones and components, and fabric.

Vietnam continued to import the most from China, at 29.5 percent of all imports, followed by South Korea, ASEAN, Japan and the EU.

By Hung Le / VnExpress