Trade surplus hits US$1.46 billion in first four months

Vietnam has a trade surplus of US$1.46 billion for the first four months of 2016, with export turnover of more than US$52.87 billion and import value of over US$51.4 billion, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Photo for Illustration (Pho to: Thai Thien)

Domestic enterprises exported products worth US$15.1 billion, or 2.9% more than in the same period last year with a trade surplus US$5.6 billion.
 
Meanwhile, foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises exported products worth US$37.1 billion, or 9.8% more than in the same period of last year, recording a trade surplus of US$6.39 billion.

The United States was the country’s largest export market in the first four months, accounting for US$11.4 billion in exports, or 15.5% more than that of the same period last year.

Other significant export markets include the European Union with US$10.3 billion in exports, or a 10.4% rise from that of last year; China with US$5.8 billion, or a 16.5% rise; and the Republic of Korea with US$3.3 billion, up 36.5%.

A total of 30 key export products saw a strong increase in export value in the first four months. These included vegetables and fruits with a growth of 43.3% to US$741 million; telephones and components, up 23.8% to US$474 million; gemstones and precious metals, up by 22.8% to US$260 million; and machines and equipment, up by 15.8% to US$2.86 billion, in addition to petrol products, up by 12.6% to US$259 million; and handbags, hats and umbrellas, up by 10.8% to US$1.36 billion.

However, other key export products faced low growth or even a reduction in export value such as seafood (up by 3.8%), bamboo and rattan (up by 2.6%), footwear (up by 4.8%), and tea (down by 14.2%), in addition to cassava (down by 23.5%).

The products with the biggest reduction in import value included animal feed (down by 17.7%), petrol (33.3%), and completely built-up automobiles (23.5%).

(Source: NDO)