Overcoming difficulties, Vietnam has a trade surplus of 12.25 billion USD in 6 months of 2023

Total export and import turnover of goods in June was estimated at 56.01 billion USD, up 3.6% over the previous month and down 14.1% over the same period last year. Generally, in 6 months of 2023, the total export and import turnover of goods reached 316.65 billion USD, down 15.2% over the same period last year, of which exports decreased by 12.1%; imports decreased by 18.2%. The trade balance of goods in 6 months of 2023 is estimated to have a trade surplus of 12.25 billion USD.

Exports continue to increase

Specifically, in terms of goods exports, the export turnover of goods in June 2023 was estimated at 29.3 billion USD, up 4.5% compared to the previous month. Thus, export turnover of goods continued to tend to increase next month compared to the previous month (after falling in April 2023) thanks to the impact of strongly promoted trade promotion activities.

Vegetables and fruits are one of the items with strong growth, contributing to the overall success of exports over the past time. In June, export turnover of vegetables and fruits reached 723 million USD, up 10.2% over the previous month and up 182.1% over the same period last year. Generally, in 6 months of 2023, vegetables and fruits exports are estimated at 2.7 billion USD, up 64.2% over the same period in 2022. Currently, vegetables and fruits are the largest export group in the field of agricultural products. The reason for the strong growth of fruit and vegetable exports is because China increased purchases after the “Zero COVID” policy was implemented. This is the first year after 3 years of the pandemic that products such as dragon fruit, durian, mango and jackfruit have been purchased by China.

The commodity with the second largest export value in the group of agricultural products is coffee, with the export value of the first 6 months estimated at 2.4 billion USD, up 3% over the same period last year. In addition, rice is also a commodity with a high growth rate. In 6 months of 2023, rice exports are estimated at 2.3 billion USD, ranking third in export value in the group of agricultural products, up 22.2% in volume and 34.7% in value. The fourth place in export value in the agricultural product group is cashew nuts with an estimated export value of 1.6 billion USD, up 10.5 in volume and 7.7% in value over the same period last year.

The high increase of vegetable and fruit, coffee, rice and cashew nut is the mainstay for the export of agricultural and forestry products in 6 months of 2023, increasing by 6.1% over the same period last year, became the only product group with positive growth among the four export groups.

However, if compared to the same period last year, the export turnover of goods in June decreased by 11.4%. Generally in 6 months of 2023, export turnover of goods was estimated at 164.45 billion USD, down 12.1% over the same period last year. The cause of this decline is that exports are still facing many difficulties in the context of high inflation and a decline in consumer demand in some markets that are important trading partners of Vietnam. Export turnover to some major markets decreased: the US decreased by 22.6%; Korea down 10.2%; EU down 10.1%; ASEAN decreased by 8.7%; Japan fell 3.3%; China fell 2.2%.

In 6 months of 2023, there were 27 items with export turnover of over 1 billion USD, accounting for 90.1% of total export turnover (with 5 export items of over 10 billion USD, accounting for 57.8%).

Regarding the import of goods, the import turnover of goods in June 2023 was estimated at 26.71 billion USD, up 2.6% over the previous month and down 16.9% over the same period last year. Generally, in 6 months of 2023, import turnover of goods was estimated at 152.2 billion USD, down 18.2% over the same period last year. In which, the domestic economic sector reached 53.22 billion USD, down 19%; FDI sector reached 98.98 billion USD, down 17.8%. In 6 months of 2023, there were 28 imported products with a value of over 1 billion USD, accounting for 84.4% of the total import turnover (there were 2 imported items over 10 billion USD, accounting for 38.1%).

Thus, the trade balance of goods in June is estimated to have a trade surplus of 2.59 billion USD. Generally in 6 months of 2023, the trade balance of goods is estimated to have a trade surplus of 12.25 billion USD (the same period last year, the trade surplus is 1.2 billion USD). In which, the trade surplus of a number of items is: Phones all of kinds and their parts 20.84 billion USD; wood and products 4.95 billion USD; aquatic products 2.87 billion USD; vegetables and fruits 1.85 billion USD; cameras, camcorders and their components 1.72 billion USD; electric wire and cable 403.5 million USD.

Regarding the export and import market of goods in 6 months of 2023, the United States was Viet Nam’s largest export market with a turnover of 44.2 billion USD. China remained the largest import market of Viet Nam with a turnover of 50.1 billion USD. In 6 months of 2023, the trade surplus to the  United States reached 37.2 billion USD, down 24.9% over the same period last year; the trade surplus to the EU reached 14.5 billion USD, down 9.8%; trade surplus to Japan was 1.2 billion USD (the same period last year saw a trade deficit of 0.7 billion USD); trade deficit from China was 24.5 billion USD, went down 30.9%; trade deficit from Korea was 13.4 billion USD, going down 34.8%; trade deficit from ASEAN was 4 billion USD, decreased by 39.1%.

Continue to strongly implement trade promotion solutions

The outstanding export turnover of June shows that trade promotion solutions have brought certain effects. In the coming time, in order to further improve the efficiency of import and export, the Ministry of Industry and Trade needs to focus on implementing a number of tasks such as promoting innovation and strengthening trade promotion activities towards new markets, potential markets such as India, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, Eastern Europe… and markets less affected by inflation and positive growth (ASEAN).

In addition, it is necessary to continue to effectively exploit Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). Facilitating and enhancing digital transformation in the granting of preferential C/O certificates of origin, thereby supporting businesses to take advantage of commitments in FTAs. Exploiting FTAs will still open up great opportunities for businesses. Because the current number of FTAs has covered most of the major markets and still has a very good growth potential. To exploit the market with FTA, it is necessary to meet the requirements of origin, accompanied by a change in the source of production materials, change of production lines to be able to meet the requirements of customers. . Disseminating and making businesses better understand this issue is the responsibility that the Ministry of Industry and Trade needs to promote in the coming time.