Vietnam’s trade activity declines in early November despite strong year-to-date growth

Import-export activities have improved over the past 10 months. Photo: Thái Bình

Despite this dip, the country’s year-to-date trade turnover as of November 15 reached an impressive US$681.48 billion, reflecting a 15.7% surge (equivalent to US$92.28 billion) compared to the same period in 2023.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises were major contributors, accounting for US$461.33 billion of the total, a 14% increase (or US$56.74 billion).

Vietnam recorded a modest trade surplus of US$31 million in the first half of November, bringing the cumulative trade surplus for the year to US$23.28 billion.

Exports experience notable decline

The decline in early November’s trade turnover was largely driven by falling exports.

Total export turnover for the first half of the month stood at US$16.73 billion, representing a sharp 13.7% drop (or US$2.66 billion) compared to the latter half of October.

Significant decreases were observed in key export categories:

Machinery, equipment, tools, and spare parts declined by US$577 million; phones and components fell by US$365 million; computers, electronic products, and components: Dropped by US$261 million.

While exports faced a downturn in early November, the cumulative figures for 2024 remained robust. By November 15, total export turnover had reached US$352.38 billion, up 14.8% (or US$45.54 billion) compared to the same period last year.

Major export categories driving this growth included:

Computers, electronic products, and components up by US$12.79 billion; machinery, equipment, tools, and spare parts increased by US$8.08 billion; textiles rose by US$3.07 billion; wood and wood products gained US$2.46 billion; phones and components: grew by US$2.25 billion.

FDI enterprises continued to dominate, with export turnover for the first half of November reaching US$12.04 billion, despite a 12.9% decline (or US$1.79 billion) compared to late October. Year-to-date, FDI enterprises have exported goods worth US$252.17 billion, up 13% (or US$28.94 billion) from last year, contributing 72% of Vietnam’s total export turnover.

Imports show modest decline

On the import side, the decline in early November was less pronounced. Total import turnover for the first half of the month stood at US$16.7 billion, down 5.3% (or US$928 million) compared to the latter half of October.

Key categories contributing to the decline included computers, electronic products, and components fell by US$341 million; steel dropped by US$217 million.

Nevertheless, year-to-date import figures remained strong. As of November 15, total imports reached US$329.1 billion, marking a 16.6% increase (or US$46.74 billion) compared to the same period last year.

Major categories driving import growth included computers, electronic products, and components up by US$17.21 billion; machinery, equipment, tools, and spare parts increased by US$6.17 billion; steel rose by US$2.01 billion; base metals gained US$1.64 billion; phones and components grew by US$1.37 billion.

FDI enterprises once again played a pivotal role, with import turnover reaching US$209.16 billion, a 15.3% rise (or US$27.79 billion) compared to last year, accounting for 63.6% of Vietnam’s total import turnover.