AsemconnectVietnam - According to the latest statistics figures of the General Statistics Office, in August of this year, the total import and export turnover of goods of Vietnam was estimated at 60.92 billion USD, up by 6.7% over the previous month.

In the first 8 months of 2023, the total import-export turnover of goods reached 435.23 billion USD, down by 13.1% over the same period last year. Of the figures, the exports of goods decreased by 10%; the imports of goods decreased by 16.2%. The balance of trade in goods in the first eight months of 2023 was estimated to have a trade surplus of 20.19 billion USD.
Commodity exports gradually improved
Regarding commodity exports, the export turnover of goods in August of 2023 was estimated at 32.37 billion USD, up by 7.7% over the previous month. In which, the export turnover of the domestic economic sector reached 8.43 billion USD, up by 8.7%; while the export turnover of the FDI sector (including crude oil) reached 23.94 billion USD, up by 7.3%.
Thus, in the last 4 consecutive months, the export turnover of goods has grown at a higher rate than the previous month. This showed that businesses' trade promotion and market search solutions have brought positive results.
However, due to a deep decrease in the first months of the year, in the first eight months of 2023, export turnover of goods was estimated at 227.71 billion USD, down by 10% compared to the same period last year.
In the first eight months of 2023, there were 30 items with export turnover of over 1 billion USD, accounting for 91.8% of total export turnover (there were 5 export products with over 10 billion USD, accounting for 58.4%).
Regarding the structure of export products in the first eight months of 2023, the exports of the group of fuels and minerals were estimated at 2.82 billion USD, accounting for 1.2%; the exports of the group of processed industrial products were estimated at 201.31 billion USD, accounting for 88.4%; the exports of the group of agricultural and forestry products were estimated at 17.87 billion USD, accounting for 7.9%; and the exports of seafood products were estimated at 5.71 billion USD, accounting for 2.5%.
Import and export of goods in August prospered
Notably, vegetables and fruits have had a very strong breakthrough in recent years. Fruit and vegetable export turnover in the past 8 months was estimated at 3.5 billion USD, up by nearly 56% over the same period last year. This is an all-time record high for the fruit and vegetable industry. In particular, durian products from a "negligible" turnover have risen to become the most important export item.
This figure was even higher than the export turnover of vegetables and fruits of the whole of last year. Among the fruit and vegetable groups, durian and dragon fruit are the major contributors to this growth. Especially, durian export in 8 months accounted for 30% of total turnover.
Mr. Dang Phuc Nguyen - General Secretary of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association said that the reason for the sharp increase in durian exports was that in May and June, during the harvest season of this fruit in the southern provinces, the volume of exports to the market was increased. The exports to Chinese market have increased dramatically. From will enter the main harvest in the Central Highlands August to the end of the year. As a result, the production may skyrocket and durian exports will exceed 1 billion USD.
Currently, the purchase price of durian is increasing sharply due to the Western goods at the end of the season. At gardeners, the price of first-class durian is for sale from 85,000 to 100,000 VND/kg, double that of the same period last year.
Recently, the price of Vietnamese durian has been bought at a high price by Chinese businesses and small businesses. In addition, the shipping time is short, Vietnamese products are always fresh and delicious, so they have strong competitiveness compared to Thai products.
In 2023, it is likely that fruit and vegetable exports will reach the historic milestone of 5 billion USD.
Regarding the textile and garment industry, in July of this year, textile and garment exports reached 3.27 billion USD, up by 6.8% over the previous month. This is also the month with the highest value in the last 11 months. Textiles are showing good signs of recovery in many markets. Mr. Vu Duc Giang - Chairman of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association said that in 2023, the textile and garment industry is expected to achieve an export turnover of 40 to 41 billion USD. Currently, textiles are the fourth largest export group of Vietnam. The following are computers, electronic products and components; phones and components; machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts.
Trade surplus at a high level
In the opposite direction, the import turnover of goods in August of 2023 was estimated at 28.55 billion USD, up by 5.7% over the previous month. In which, the import value of the domestic economic sector reached 10.25 billion USD, down by 1.4%; while the import value of the FDI sector reached 18.3 billion USD, up by 10.2%. As comparison to the same period last year, the import turnover of goods in August decreased by 8.3%, of which the import value of the domestic economic sector decreased by 1.7%; and the import value of the foreign-invested sector decreased by 11.6%.
Import turnover of goods has also increased continuously in recent months with the main commodity group of materials for production. With such an increase, the export of goods can be expected to be more prosperous in the coming time.
In the first eight months of 2023, the import turnover of goods was estimated at 207.52 billion USD, down by 16.2% over the same period last year.
In the first eight months of 2023, there were 37 imported items with a value of over 1 billion USD, accounting for 89.9% of the total import turnover (there were 2 imported items with the import value of over 10 billion USD, accounting for 38.8%).
CK
Source: VITIC/congthuong.vn