The General Department of Customs said Vietnam’s export turnover was estimated at US$7.5 billion in February, bringing the value in the first two months of 2013 to US$19 billion, up 23.9 per cent from the same period in 2012. The domestic economic sector earned US$6.8 billion, up 18.2 per cent, while the foreign investment sector raked in US$12.2 billion (including crude oil), up 27.3 per cent. The performance in the first two months has fostered the expectation that Vietnam will have good export performance this year.
Many exports recorded good growth in the first two months of 2013. Particularly, garment and textile export brought in US$2.8 billion, up 38.4 per cent year on year; telephone and parts export valued at US$2.7 billion, up 67.3 per cent; shipments of electronics, computer parts and components were worth US$1.5 billion, up 53.4 per cent; footwear generated US$1.2 billion, up 20.9 per cent; crude oil export earned US$1.2 billion, up 25.5 per cent; vehicles and parts raked in US$949 million, up 42.8 per cent; exports of timber and wooden products reached US$809 million, up 35.2 per cent; cassava export grossed US$290 million, up 46.8 per cent.
The EU was the largest export market for Vietnam with an estimated US$3.7 billion, up 34 per cent year on year, followed by the US with US$3.4 billion, up 30 per cent; ASEAN with US$2.7 billion, up 23 per cent; Japan with US$1.9 billion, up 3.4 per cent; China with US$1.9 billion, up 21.4 per cent; and South Korea with US$1 billion, up 36.7 per cent.
The export of agro-forestry and fishery products earned US$2.26 billion in February, grossing US$4.83 billion in the first two months of this year, a year on year rise of 31.5 percent. The shipment of agricultural products brought in US$2.57 billion, up 27.9 per cent; seafood products earned US$876 million, up 11.6 per cent, and aquatic products made US$876 million, up 36.2 per cent. Looking back on 2012, the seafood export performance failed to achieve the target of US$6.5 billion when it hit just US$6.2 billion. And, the unfulfilled target has been set for this year. To achieve this goal, the fisheries sector has to overcome a lot of pressures from quality improvement to product pricing and output market.
Rice export was estimated at 233,000 tonnes worth US$107 million in February, totalling 677,000 tonnes valued at US$310 million in the first two months of 2013, up 68.2 per cent in volume but down 15.4 per cent in value. The average export price in January was US$457 per tonne, down 20.1 per cent from the same month in 2012. China remained the biggest Vietnamese rice importer with a 34.7 per cent market share, followed by Singapore (7.27 per cent), South Korea (5.64 per cent) and the Philippines (5.64 per cent).
Notably, coffee posted a robust growth in both export volume and value. Coffee export was estimated at 196,000 tonnes in February valued at US$339 million, bringing the volume of coffee exports in the first two months to 415,000 tonnes worth US$884 million, up 22.3 per cent in volume and 38.1 per cent in value year on year. The average coffee export price was US$2,075 per tonne in January, up 2.6 per cent over the previous year.
The US and Germany remained the two largest coffee importers in the first months of 2013.
Like rice and coffee, tea also made strong export value growth. The country was predicted to ship 9,000 tonnes of tea valued at US$13 million in February, bringing the total export volume to 21,000 tonnes and the value to US$33 million in the first two months, down 5.7 per cent in volume but up 18.6 per cent in value over the corresponding period in 2012. The average tea export price was US$1,566 per tonne in January, up 4.9 per cent year on year. Pakistan remained Vietnam’s top market, buying 18.9 percent of Vietnam’s exports. The volume and value of tea exported to the United Arab Emirates increased 8.14 folds in volume and 8.61 folds in value in January from last year. The growth was seen in most major markets except Russia and Indonesia.
Rubber export saw a sharp decline in volume but a strong growth in value. Rubber export was estimated at 179,000 tonnes worth US$518 million in the first two months, down 31.5 per cent in volume but up 16.6 per cent in value over the same period of 2012. Shipments to major markets increased in both volume and value. China saw a 31.7 per cent rise in volume and a 36.87 per cent rise in value; Malaysia with a 2.65-fold growth in volume and a 2.47-time growth in value; India with a 51 per cent increase in volume and a 33.87 per cent increase in value.
However, Vietnam’s key exports - seafood and rice - only increased in volume while declined in value. This showed that Vietnamese exporters tend to run after the volume rather than enhance the value of exports. Only a few products expanded in both volume and value like coffee and rubber.
Thu Ha
Vietnamese
