February 2019: import and export turnover of many commodities declined

	In early 2019, Vietnam sees a trade deficit of nearly US$ 1 billion
	Customs statistics on import and export in December 2018
	Nearly US$ 35 billion of trade surplus to the US market in 2018

Operations at Customs Branch at Thanh Thuy international border gate, Ha Giang Customs Department. Photo: T. Trang

The decline in Customs budget revenue of February 2019 was due to the Tet holiday falling in this month. Therefore, import and export turnover of some key commodities in February 2019, significantly reduced from January 2019.

The review of key export commodities in February showed that many commodities saw a decline compared to January, such as computers, electronic products and components, estimated at an export value of US$ 1.8 billion, down 23.9%; textiles and garments estimated at an export value of US$ 1.6 billion, down by 51.4%; machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts estimated at an export value of US $ 1 billion, down 38.7%; footwear estimated at an export value of US$ 900 million, down 49.1%; means of transport and spare parts estimated at an export value of US$ 550 million, down 35.8%; wood and wood products estimated at an export value of US $ 400 million, down 59.2%, and iron and steel of all kinds estimated at an export volume of US$ 450,000 tons, down 41.6% and an export value of US$ 262 million, down 45.8%, compared with the previous month.

However, some export commodities in February increased in turnover such as: phones of all kinds and spare parts, estimated at an export turnover of US$ 3.5 billion, up 6.4% compared to last month. And especially, crude oil was estimated at an export of 700,000 tons, up 43.8% over the last month and an export value of US$ 420 million, up 86%. The export volume of crude oil in 2 months was estimated at 1.2 million tons, worth US $ 646 million, up 76.8% in volume and 82.1% in value over the same period last year.

For key import commodities, many imports in February also dropped significantly, namely: Computers, electronic products & components estimated at import value of US$ 3.55 billion, down. 10.1%; machinery, equipment, tools & spare parts estimated imports of US$ 2.15 billion, down by 37%; phones of all kinds and components estimated at imports of US$ 900 million, down by 22.2%; fabrics of all kinds estimated at imports of US$ 900 million, down 22.3%, compared with the previous month.

In addition, iron and steel of all kinds was estimated at an import volume of 1 million tons in February 2019, down 13.2%, and an import value of US$ 630 million, down 21.3% over the previous month. Material and plastics were estimated at an import volume of 350,000 tons, worth US $ 504 million, down 33.9% in volume and 34.9% in value. Common metals were estimated in February at 90,000 tons, down 41.3% and worth US$ 340 million, down 38.5%; raw materials for textile, garment, leather and footwear was estimated at imports of US $ 350 million, down 26.8%, compared with the previous month.

Particularly, imported petroleum products in February were estimated at 450,000 tons, down 30.1% and worth US$ 262 million, down 25.8% over the previous month. The import volume of petroleum in the 2 months of 2019 was estimated at 1.1 million tons, and the value was estimated at US$ 616 million, down 50.5% in volume and 56.7% in value compared to the same period last year. .

With the above situation, in February 2019, the country’s total imports and exports was estimated at US $ 30.1 billion, down 30.5% over the previous month; in which export value was estimated at US $ 14.6 billion, down 33.9% and import value was estimated at US $ 15.5 billion, down 27.1%.

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Compared to the same period last year, the country’s total import-export turnover in the first 2 months of 2019 was estimated at US$ 73.44 billion, up 6.7% over the same period last year, of which exports were estimated at US$ 36.68 billion, up by 5.9% and imports were estimated at US$ 36.76 billion, up 7.5%.

Vietnam's trade balance of goods in February 2019 was estimated to see a deficit of US$ 900 million. Thereby, Vietnam’s trade deficit in the first 2 months of 2019 was US$ 84 million