Foreign firms in Vietnam post expanding trade surplus

Foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) in Vietnam recorded a merchandise trade surplus of $34.77 billion in the first eight months of this year, expanding from $29 billion a month earlier.

In the eight-month period, Vietnam posted a merchandise trade surplus of $19.07 billion as domestic companies incurred a deficit of $15.7 billion, the General Statistics Office said on Friday.

The country saw external trade up 16.7% year-on-year to $511.11 billion in the period. Of the total, exports rose 15.8% to $265.09 billion, while imports outpaced at 17.7%, reaching $246.02 billion.

FIEs raked in $191.21 billion from overseas shipments, up 13.9% year-on-year and accounting for 72.1% of the total value. They spent $156.44 billion on imports, up 16.5%.

Between January and August, Vietnam had 30 items, each with an export turnover of $1 billion or more, accounting for 92.3% of total exports. Among them, six items had their respective export turnover exceeding $10 billion, making up 62.6%.

The biggest cash earners were electronics, computers, and spare parts ($46.33 billion); phones and spare parts ($37.28 billion); machinery and equipment ($32.73 billion); garment and textile ($24.32 billion); footwear (14.94 billion); and timber and wood products ($10.39 billion).

Meanwhile, 38 items had import values exceeding $1 billion, making up 90.8% of the total. Of them, only two items saw import turnovers above $10 billion. They are electronics, computers, and spare parts ($68.89 billion); and machinery and equipment ($31.34 billion).

The U.S. remained Vietnam’s largest export market, buying $77.9 billion from the latter, while China was firm as the top provider of goods with $92.3 billion.

Vietnam earned trade surpluses of $68.1 billion from the U.S. in January-August, up 28.6% year-on-year; $23.6 billion from the EU, up 22%; and $1.7 billion from Japan, up 30.5%.

On the other hand, Vietnam incurred trade deficits of $54.4 billion from China, up 69.6%; $20 billion from South Korea, up 12.1%; and $5.8 billion from ASEAN, up 14.8%.