Q1 trade surplus close to $4 billion
Q1 trade surplus close to $4 billion
A $2 billion trade surplus in March has boosted Vietnam’s first quarter total to $3.74 billion, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.
Shipping containers are seen at a port in Hai Phong City, northern Vietnam. Photo by Reuters/Kham.
|
It said the value of Vietnam's imports and exports in the first quarter reached $122.73 billion, a 5.7 percent increase year-on-year, most of it from the FDI sector.
The total foreign trade turnover in March reached $46.28 billion, a 17.4 percent increase over February. Of this, export and import revenues exceeded $24 billion and $22 billion, up 15.7 percent and 19.2 percent year-on-year, respectively.
Compared to the General Statistics Office data published last month, the Q1 turnover of $122.73 billion and trade surplus of $3.74 billion are respectively $7.3 billion and nearly $1 billion higher.
The Q1 trade surplus, while large, was mostly due to the activities of foreign-invested companies.
The FDI sector's total Q1 import and export turnover reached over $77 billion, up 3.8 percent year-on-year. Its export and import turnovers were $42.55 billion and $34.82 billion respectively, which meant a trade surplus of $7.7 billion.
Asia was the largest market for Vietnam in Q1, contributing to nearly 65 percent of the total import and export turnover. The total two-way trade value with the Asian market reached $79.52 billion, up 4 percent year-on-year, with export and import reaching $31.47 billion and over $48 billion respectively.
Vietnam's trade turnover with the U.S. reached $24.35 billion, an 18.3 percent increase, making it the market with the fastest growth in Q1. Trade with the European market, on the other hand, went down 2.8 percent to $15.16 billion.
The country's main export items were still phones, computers, electronic devices and components, footwear, wood, seafood, iron and steel, with phones and electronic components mostly from FDI companies.
The main imports were electronic components, computers and raw materials for textile and footwear industries.
