Coal exports increase sharply in October

Vietnam’s export turnover in October was estimated at US$20.80 billion, down 1.5% from the previous month. Telephones and components saw the sharpest decrease with 21.4%, however, coal exports have rocketed by 45.3%.

Vietnam’s coal exports rocketed by 45.3% in October. (Representative photo)
Vietnam’s coal exports rocketed by 45.3% in October. (Representative photo)

The latest report on the national socio-economic situation published by the General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO) showed that, compared with the same period last year, export turnover in October has increased by 2.3%, of which the domestic economic sector increased by 9.3% and the foreign invested sector (including crude oil) decreased by 0.1%.

For the first 10 months of 2018, export turnover was estimated at US$200.27 billion, up 14.2% over the same period last year, of which the domestic economic sector gained US$56.82 billion, up 16.8%; the FDI sector (including crude oil) reached US$143.45 billion (accounting for 71.6% of total export turnover), increasing by 13.2%.

Export turnover of several key products continued to increase over the same period last year; telephone and components reached US$40.7 billion, up 10.6%; textiles and garments (US$25.2 billion) increased by 17.1%; electronics, computers and components reached US$24.3 billion, up 15.2%; machinery, equipment and accessories (US$13.5 billion) is up 28.3%; and footwear reached US$13 billion, up 9.7%.

In addition, agricultural and seafood products also witnessed positive results, with fishery product exports reaching US$7.2 billion, up 5.9%; vegetables and fruits (US$3.3 billion), up 14.4%; coffee (US$3 billion), up 1.1% in value and up 21.5% in volume; and rice reaching US$2.6 billion, up 16.1% in value and 3.4% in volume.

Crude oil exports for the whole 10-month period continued to decline sharply, in both volume and value, over the same period last year, with export turnover having reached US$1.8 billion, down 24.8%, while export volume has decreased by 45.4 %.

During Jan-Oct, the United States maintained the leading position as Vietnam’s largest export market with turnover having reached US$39 billion, up 12.8% over the same period last year. The second in the list is the EU, with export value from Vietnam reaching US$34.9 billion, up 9.9%; followed by China (US$32.1 billion, up 21.3%), ASEAN (US$20.6 billion, up 14.5%), Japan (US$15.3 billion, up 10.6%), and the Republic of Korea (US$15 billion, up 23.5%).

Meanwhile, Vietnam’s import turnovers for October were estimated at US$20.70 billion, up 6.1% over the previous month; crude oil imports rose especially sharply at 163.1%, mainly due to the production need from the Nghi Son Petrochemical Refinery Complex.

Compared with the same period last year, import turnover in October increased by 13.6%, of which the domestic economic sector is up 14.5% and the FDI sector has increased by 13%.

For the first 10 months this year, import turnover was estimated at US$193.84 billion, up 11.8% against the same period last year; the domestic economic figure was at US$77.5 billion, up 12%, and the FDI sector was at US$116.34 billion, increasing by 11.7%.

In October, Vietnam is expected to enjoy an estimated trade surplus of US$100 million. For the 10-month period, trade surplus was estimated at US$6.4 billion, of which the domestic economic sector suffered trade deficit of US$20.7 billion, while the FDI sector (including crude oil) enjoyed trade surplus of US$27.1 billion.