According to the General Department of Customs, Vietnam’s total import and export turnover in January reached US$40.26 billion in the first month of the year, up 46.2% year-on-year. Of the total, $20.22 billion were from exports.
Exports of textile and garment rose 25% in January
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Earlier, reports on the country’s exports and imports in the month ending January 20 released by the General Statistics Office estimated that the country ran a trade deficit of $300 million in January. GSO attributed the deficit to the soaring import demands as Tet (Lunar New Year), the country’s biggest holiday season is around the corner.
Export products that gained high growth in the second half of January were textile and garment ($278 million, up 25%), computer, electronic products and parts ($225 million, up 21%), and other equipments and machineries ($134 million, up 24.6%).
Experts have so far also forecast that exports of Vietnam’s key export products, such as rice, wood and timber products and seafood, will gain positive results this year thanks to rising market demands amid limited supply sources.
The Vietnam Food Association (VFA) forecast that Vietnam’s rice exports this year will reach some 6 million tons, up 400,000 tons against 2017 thanks to rising demands from China and Southeast Asian markets, such as the Philippines and Indonesia, while the supply of rice sources from other major rice exporters, such as Thailand and India, are restricted.
Meanwhile, the global demand for rice is forecast to rise sharply this year. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s 2018 world rice production forecast issued in late 2017, the main factor behind this year’s rice trade expansion is increased output from Vietnam, Pakistan, and Myanmar, three of the world’s Top 6 rice exporting countries.
The USDA report stated that though global rice output fell by 20% in 2017 against 2016, as a result of weak outlook for grain products, long, heavy rainfalls, spring floods, and other unfavorable weather phenomena, traditional rice importing markets in Southeast Asia are looking at bright prospects in early 2018.
In Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, where rice crops were heavily influenced by harsh weather, demand for rice imports will also increase in 2018. Rising import demand is supported by increased purchasing power in Africa and the Middle East, while China continues to be a leading importer of rice from neighboring regions.
Vietnam, therefore, will witness increasing revenue from rice exports to several large consumer markets.
Nguyen Xuan Cuong, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, also forecast that the fishery sector has the potential to further grow this year, which will help create a new mark and surpass the target of $8.5 billion set for 2018. The sector has good foundations in terms of infrastructure, production methods, and organization and will likely surpass the target.
Vietnam’s trade value last year was estimated at nearly $425 billion, representing a bright spot in the nation’s economic picture in the year. Of which, the value of exports was estimated at $213.77 billion, a year-on-year increase of 21 per cent, higher than the annual growth rate of 9 per cent in export value in 2016. Meanwhile, the value of imports in 2017 was estimated at $211.1 billion, 20.8 per cent higher than 2016.
Foreign-invested companies notched a trade surplus of $28.8 billion last year, contributing substantially to the total national trade surplus, while the domestic economic sector continued to have trade deficit of $26.2 billion.
