From January to November of 2014, Vietnam’s trade-in-goods totaled US$271 billion in value, 12.7% higher than the corresponding period of 2013, according to statistics from Vietnam Customs.
Overall merchandise exports rose 13.7% to $136.94 billion year-over-year, and total merchandise imports expanded 11.8% to $134.06 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $2.88 billion, said a Vietnam Customs media release.
Meanwhile, total value of exports and imports by foreign direct invested (FDI) traders reached $161.93 billion for the 11-month period under review, up by 13.8% compared to the corresponding period of 2013. Total value of FDI exportation was $85.71 billion, an expansion of 15.6%. On the import side, total value was $76.22 billion, up by 11.8%.
Nguyen Bich Lam, General Statistics Office general director, was quoted by VietnamNet Bridge in a recent report: “The Vietnamese economy has shown positive signs with GDP surpassing the 5.8% benchmark for the year. There has been general optimism among leading economists for the economy as a whole and the agricultural sector in particular.”
He added: “The year 2014 was a bumper year with the rice output having increased to a record 955,000 tonnes. Meanwhile, the seafood, construction and industrial sectors experienced strong growth as well. Most notably, the manufacturing sector experienced substantial growth of 98%.”
Value of export/import trade
For November 2014, however, Vietnam’s total merchandise trade dipped 7.5% compared to the result of the previous month. Exports went down 6% to $13.23 billion and imports shrank 9.1% to $12.79 billion. The country had a trade surplus of $438 million for this month.
From October to November of 2014, Customs data indicated a decrease in aggregate merchandise exports, reflecting a downturn in deliveries of textiles and garments (down by $312.91 million); machine, equipment, tools and instruments (down by $117.73 million); fishery products (down by $135.19 million); and crude oil (down by $86.9 million), among others.
The October to November of 2014 decrease in total imports of merchandise turnover reflected the downturn in import value of the following commodities: machine, equipment, tools and instruments (down by $229 million); iron and steel (down by $174 million); and petroleum products (down by $171 million).
On the other hand, the growth in the value of exports in the 11-month coverage compared to 2013 was attributed to the upturn in shipments of the following commodities: textiles and garments; telephones, mobile phones, and parts; footwear; and machine, equipment, tools and instruments.
An expansion in the import value of commodities for the period January-November was due to the growth in the following: machines, equipment, tools and instruments; textile, leather, and footwear materials and auxiliaries group; petroleum products; and iron and steel.
Trading partners
In the same 11 months of 2014, Vietnamese merchandise trade with Asia amounted to $178.94 billion in value, which was greater by 11.1% from the same period one year before. Its next biggest trading partners were the U.S., with trade reaching $42.38 billion to increase by 24.1%; Europe with trade value of $38.86 billion, up by 8%; Oceania with $6.43 billion, up by 24.9%; and Africa with $4.39 billion, up by 10.7% from 2013.
The U.S. was the biggest destination for Vietnamese products with a total value of $26 billion in the first 11 months. China came second, followed by Japan, South Korea, and Germany.
The biggest import partner was China, which exported $39.5 billion worth of goods to the Southeast Asian economy, followed by South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, and the U.S.
Photo: (WT-Shared) Shoestring
