According to the latest data from General Department of Customs, Vietnam exported goods to Laos in the first 7 months of 2024 reaching 355.3 million USD, up 14.3% over the same period last year.
Vietnam exports 19 main products to Lao market. Petroleum is the largest export item with a turnover of 43.6 million USD, up 25.6% over the same period last year. Volume of petroleum exported to Laos also increased by 24.3% compared to the same period last year, reaching 53,145 tonnes.
Iron and steel products were the second largest item with 27.9 million USD, up 14.8% compared to the same period last year. In contrast, iron and steel products to Laos decreased by 27.9% compared to the same period last year, to 18.3 million USD; volume also decreased by 17.1% compared to the same period last year, to 25,759 tonnes.
Vietnam also exported machinery, equipment, tools and other spare parts to Laos with 26.2 million USD, up 6.9% compared to the same period last year; means of transport and other spare parts reached 23.3 million USD, up 15.3% compared to the same period last year.
Notably, export turnover of chemical products to Laos recorded a growth of 857% over the same period last year, from 2.6 million USD in the same period last year to 24.9 million USD in the first 7 months of 2024. Export turnover of wood and wood products to Laos also increased by 150% over the same period, to 5.5 million USD.
In agricultural group, Vietnam exported animal feed and raw materials to Laos with a turnover of 14.6 million USD, an increase of 22.6% over the same period last year; followed by vegetables and fruits with 9.2 million USD, a sharp decrease of 56% over the same period last year.
Vietnam exported 40,025 tonnes of fertilizer to Laos with a turnover of 15.7 million USD, an increase of 23% over the same period last year and 30.8% over the same period last year, respectively. In terms of price, the average export price of gasoline to Laos reached 820.5 USD/tonne, a slight increase of 0.9% over the same period last year; fertilizer export was 394.4 USD/tonne, an increase of 6% over the same period last year. Meanwhile, average export price of iron and steel from Vietnam to Laos decreased by 13% over the same period last year, to 712.7 USD/tonne; clinker and cement also decreased by 28.6% over the same period last year, to 68.9 USD/tonne.
On other hand, according to data from General Department of Customs, Vietnam spent 763.8 million USD to import goods from Laos in the first 7 months of 2024, an increase of 17.7% over the same period last year.
Vietnam imported 9 main items from Laos in the first 7 months of 2024. Of which, rubber was the import item with the largest value at 119 million USD, up 28.2% over the same period. Amount of rubber imported from this market also increased by 13% over the same period last year, from 80,519 tons to 90,998 tonnes.
Vietnam also spent 82.9 million USD to import 1.26 million tonnes of coal from Laos, down 28.7% in value and 16.5% in volume over the same period last year.
In the first 7 months of 2024, Vietnam imported 1.28 million tonnes of ores and other minerals from Laos with a turnover of 46.6 million USD, up 18.8% in volume and 23.9% in turnover. Laos is currently the largest supplier of this item to Vietnam in ASEAN, ahead of Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore.
Vietnam also spent 59.3 million USD to import wood and wood products from this Southeast Asian country, down 5.8% in value compared to the same period last year.
In agricultural group, Laos exported 211,944 tonnes of fertilizer to Vietnam with a value of 54.9 million USD, up 47.2% over the same period last year in volume and 4.1% over the same period last year in value. Amount of corn imported from Laos reached 74,589 tonnes, up 23.4% over the same period last year, however, the value decreased by 11.8% over the same period last year, to 18.6 million USD. In this group, Vietnam also imported vegetables and fruits from 2 million USD, down 16.6% over the same period last year.

Source: Vitic/ congthuong.vn