Exports in Seven Months Reach US$36.876Bln

According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the export values of commodities in July is estimated to reach US$6.25 billion, up 47 percent against the same period last year (export value in July 2007 is US$4.25 billion), far exceeding June’s US$5.5 billion. On average, export values in the past seven months are estimated to be US$38.376 billion, up 37.6 percent against the same period of the previous year.

 

Commodities which contribute to the growth of the export value during the last seven months include crude oil, garments and textiles, rice, precious stones, precious metals and footwear. The increase in exports of Vietnam’s key commodities is not only attributed to an increase in export volume but also to their increasing export prices.

 

The highest increase in export value belongs to the category of precious stones and metals, up 525.6 percent against the same period of 2007, followed by the category of bicycles and bicycle parts.

Good exporting price helps the value of foreign currency collected from rice exports in the last seven months go up by 87.6 percent, compared to the corresponding period last year.

 

This month also witnesses a slight increase in import values against that of the previous month. Compared to the amount of US$6.8 billion of import values in June, this month’s amount is up by 3.67 percent and hits US$7.05 billion. Compared to the same period of 2007, imports in July this year are up by 39.6 percent.

 

In short, the import value of commodities in the first seven months of this year is estimated to reach US$51.887 billion, 56.8 percent higher than that of the same period last year.

 

The import excess mainly occurs in commodities catering for production with origins in other regional countries. With markets such as the U.S and EU, Vietnam still maintains a trade surplus since it can maintain the increase in export value of commodities where it is strong.