Vietnam estimates to experience a trade deficit of US$222 million in the first four months of this year after gaining a slight trade surplus in the first quarter of US$47 million, according to the government’s General Statistics Office (GSO).
Total export value increased by 25.1 per cent on-year to $12.11 billion and import spending rose by 6.9 per cent to $12.332 billion during the period. The broader trade deficit is mainly due to the strong jumps in imports, said the GSO.
The period is witnessing remarkable on-year increases in the export of pepper, which sky-rocketed by 52 per cent, coal, up 47.8 per cent, electric cables and wires, up 44 per cent, garments and textiles, up 38.7 per cent, plastics, up 33.4 per cent, wood products, up 31.9 per cent and tea, up 30 per cent.
Notably, the export revenue for crude oil rose by 15.6 per cent to $2.63 billion in January-April.
Meanwhile exports of rice, cashew nut, and bicycle parts experienced on-year decreases of 9 per cent, 5.9 per cent and 2.9 per cent, respectively.
During the period, industrial products took the lead in export growth, especially garments and textiles with an export value of $1.74 billion, soaring 38.7 per cent against the same months of last year. Of the sum value, nearly half came from garment and textile exports to the United States.
Despite negative effects from the EC's anti-dumping lawsuit, footwear exports attained $1.068 billion, up 21.4 per cent.
In April alone, the Southeast Asian country reaped $3.2 billion from exports, down 7 per cent on-month. Of which, foreign-invested firms contributed $1.75 billion, making up an on-month reduction of 2.7 per cent.
The month is seeing slight increases in export turnovers of wood products, electric cables and wires, electronic products and computers and bicycle and parts of $190 million, $65 million, $150 million and $18 million, representing respective on-month rises of 4.4 per cent, 4.8 per cent, 1.35 per cent and 5.88 per cent.
Meanwhile, values of key export items like rice, coffee, crude oil, seafood, footwear and garments and textiles saw on-month decreases of 30.11 per cent, 16.8 per cent, 15.96 per cent, 4.9 per cent, 4.4 per cent and 1 per cent to $123 million, $104 million, $600 million, $250 million, $260 million and $450 million.
During the month, Vietnam spent $3.5 billion on import activities, up 0.5 per cent against March, lifting the country’s total import expenditure to $12.332 billion, up 6.9 per cent on-year. Of the sum, foreign-invested firms poured $1.36 billion into imports in April, down 0.9 per cent on-month, and $4.786 billion in the first four months, up 19.3 per cent on-year.
The slight increases in imports in January-April were the result of the country’s bigger spending on petroleum ($1.814 billion, up 22.4 per cent on-year), machine-equipment-accessories ($1.895 billion, up 14.2 per cent), electronic products and electronic spare parts ($607 million, up 15.9 per cent), plastic ($535 million, up 23.4 per cent), paper ($155 million, up 42.8 per cent), cloth ($814 million, up 28.7 per cent), animal fat ($76 million, up 31.3 per cent), and finished motorbike ($25.1 million, up 41.3 per cent).
In 2006, Vietnam’s export development rate is forecast at 18.5 per cent to reach $38.44 billion while import rate is estimated at 14-16 per cent to $42-43 billion.
The country is expected to earn an annual export growth of 17.5 per cent in the 2006-2010 period with a total value of nearly $272 billion, according to a project mapped out by the Ministry of Trade.
GSO, Liberated Saigon
Vietnamese
