Vietnam posts $20.8 bln trade surplus in Jan-Sept, FDI sector $38.2 bln

Vietnam posted a trade surplus $20.79 billion in the first nine months of this year, with the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector making a trade surplus of $38.17 billion.

The country’s nine-month trade surplus went up from $19.07 in Jan-Aug, while the FDI sector’s figure rose from $34.77 billion, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

In Jan-Sept, Vietnam’s export revenue increased 15.4% year-on-year to $299.63 billion, while import expenditure grew 17.3% to $278.84 billion.

The domestic sector made a trade deficit of $17.38 billion in the period.

Regarding export, Vietnam’s biggest cash earners were electronics, computers and components with $52.76 billion, up 27.4% year-on-year; phones and components with $41.9 billion, up 7.2%; machinery and equipment with $37.79 billion, up 22.1%; apparel-textiles with $27.35 billion, up 8.9%; and footwear with $16.54 billion, up 12.5%.

The manufacturing-processing sector accounted for $263.47 billion of the country's total export, or 87.9%; followed by farm produce and forestry goods at $25.64 billion (8.6%); fisheries at $7.23 billion (2.4%); and fuel and natural resources at $3.29 billion (1.1%).

Sub-sectors with highest import expenditure were electronics, computers and components with $79.12 billion, up 25.8% year-on-year; followed by machinery and equipment with $35.42 billion, up 16.6%; fabric with $10.95 billion, up 14.3%; steel-iron with $8.97 billion, up 18.9%; and plastics with $8.47 billion, up 11.8%.

Materials for production accounted for $261.5 billion, or 93.8% of total import. The remaining 6.2%, or $17.34 billion, was spent on consumer goods.

China and the U.S. were Vietnam's biggest trade partners, with total values of $148.6 billion and $100.3 billion in the first nine months, respectively. Other major partners were the ASEAN bloc with $61.4 billion, South Korea with $60.4 billion, the EU with $50.3 billion, and Japan with $34.1 billion.

Vietnam spent $105 billion on importing goods and earned $43.6 billion from exporting goods to China, up 32.5% and 1% year-on-year, respectively. China was Vietnam’s biggest import market and second-biggest export market.

Exports and imports to the U.S. rose 27.4% and 6.2% year-on-year respectively to $89.4 billion and $10.9 billion. The U.S. was Vietnam’s largest export destination.