Jan-July import-export revenue higher than 2013 full-year figure
The import and export revenue of Vietnam in the first seven months of the year surpassed that of the full year for 2013, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.
Preliminary customs statistics from the department showed that the total value of imports and exports in July reached a record high of US$41.2 billion, a 6.1% rise against the previous month.
Vietnam exported goods worth more than US$20.3 billion, up by 2.4% month-on-month, while the country spent over US$20.9 billion purchasing foreign goods, up by 10%.
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July was the second month this year, after January, in which the total value of imports and exports was above US$20 billion.
Overall, the total import-export revenue in the year to late July had amounted to US$266.1 billion, rising by 13.5%, or US$31.7 billion, over last year. The revenue was even higher than that of the full year in 2013, at US$264.07 billion.
The respective figures for the seven-month import and export turnover were more than US$131.6 billion and US$134.5 billion, up by 11.1% and 16%, respectively, according to the customs agency.
While Vietnam recorded a trade deficit in goods in May and July, the country recorded a trade surplus in the first four months of the year. As a result, there was still a US$2.85-billion surplus in its seven-month trade balance, compared with a trade deficit of US$2.61 billion in the same period last year.
The customs agency noted that the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector had earned US$172 billion in imports and exports in the year to end-July, up by 13.3%, or US$20.2 billion, over the same period last year.
During this period, outbound sales of the FDI sector rose by 15.9% year-on-year to US$94.2 billion, while the sector imported goods worth US$77.8 billion, up by 10.4%. Therefore, the sector gained a trade surplus of US$16.4 billion.
Among the export commodities, phone and phone parts earned more than US$26.4 billion between January and July, a year-on-year increase of 17.4%. Textiles and garments came second with some US$16.5 billion (up by 16%), followed by computers, electronic products and their spare parts, earning US$15.9 billion (up by 16.2%).
Meanwhile, imports of computers, electronic products and their spare parts rose by 13.9% to more than US$23.1 billion. Machinery, equipment, tools and other accessories came second, earning some US$18.8 billion, down by 6.4%, followed by phones and phone parts, earning more than US$7.3 billion, down by a mere 0.6%.
