According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam's trade balance in February 2023 continued to have a surplus of USD 2.3 billion, bringing the total trade deficit in the first two months of the year to USD 2.82 billion (the same period last year, the trade deficit was more than USD300 million). However, in the first 2 months of 2023, export turnover of most commodity groups decreased, except for mineral fuels.

In which, the export of agricultural and aquatic products was estimated at USD 3.88 billion, down 15.1% (USD 688 million) over the same period; seafood exports alone decreased by 32.9% (USD 494 million), reaching only USD 1 billion; export of processed industrial products was estimated to decrease by 9.8%, reaching only 42.97 billion and accounting for 86.8% of total export turnover.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in this group of goods, exports of many "billion-dollar" items decreased sharply compared to the same period last year, such as computers, electronic products and components estimated at reaching only USD6.87 billion, down 13.9%; machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts was estimated at reaching only USD6.4 billion, down 1.6%; textiles and garments was estimated at reaching only USD4.55 billion, down 19.6%; footwear of all kinds was estimated at USD 2.76 billion, down 15.8%; wood and wood products down 34.8%.

The fact that Samsung launched a new product line earlier than last year pushed the export turnover of phones and components to increase in the first 2 months of the year. In which, the export of phones and components reached USD9.42 billion, up 7.6% over the same period in 2022.

Exports of fuels and minerals increased slightly (4.3%) in the first 2 months of 2023, estimated at USD 626 million because crude oil exports increased by 12.4% over the same period.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the international context has negatively impacted the exports of some key commodity groups in the first two months of 2023.

Textile and garment exports to two main markets, the US and the EU, dropped sharply; importing countries have stricter requirements from brands than before; China's opening will create a lot of pressure on textile exporting countries like Vietnam.

For wood and wood products, the main export markets such as the United States and the EU will continue to reduce import demand due to the effects of inflation, economic recession, and low consumer confidence. For the European markets; despite benefiting from new-generation free trade agreements, the technical standards, conformity, and requirements to prove the origin of wood that the EU posed are difficult problems to overcome.

Abundant supply, high inventory in markets, especially Japan and Korea, led to the trend of orders slowing down and export prices of wood materials falling. Although the Chinese market has reopened, the domestic supply chain has not fully recovered, which contains many risks.

Seafood importers in major markets such as the US, Japan, EU, UK tend to reduce inventories to optimize costs in the context of high inflation causing consumers to tighten spending more than before.

Regarding the structure of export markets, in the first two months of 2023, Vietnam's exports to most of the key markets decreased sharply compared to the same period last year. Although the US is Vietnam's largest export market with an estimated turnover of USD 13.1 billion, down 21% over the same period.

Exports to the EU reached USD 6.9 billion, down 4.2%; ASEAN reached USD 4.6 billion, down 8%; Korea reached USD 3.5 billion, down 5.7%; Japan reached USD 3.2 billion, down 5.9%.

Particularly for the Chinese market, the reopening policy from the beginning of 2023 after nearly three years of implementing the "Zero Covid" policy has positively impacted Vietnam's exports to this market. In which, the export of goods to the Chinese market in the first 2 months of the year reached USD 8.2 billion, up 4.2% over the same period last year.

Regarding the structure of imported goods in the first two months of 2023, the group of raw materials for production (the group of goods to be imported) accounted for 88.4%, estimated at USD 41.2 billion, down 16.6% over the same period last year, 2022. In which, the import of computers and electronic components was estimated at USD 12.76 billion, down 8.3%; machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts reached USD 5.53 billion, down 21.8%; fabrics of all kinds reached USD 1.64 billion, down 30.3%; all kinds of phones and components reached USD 1.39 billion, down 62%.

In the opposite direction, imported petroleum increased sharply in volume (reaching 1.92 million tons, up 43.1%) and in value (reaching USD 1.7 billion, up 56.3%). Crude oil imports increased 2.2 times in volume and 2.1 times in value; import of animal feed increased sharply by 31.8%.

Import of goods to be controlled in the first two months of 2023 is estimated at USD 3.03 billion, equivalent to the same period in 2022, in which imports of complete CBU cars under 9 seats increased by 132.9% in volume and 62 .6% in turnover, with 28,124 units, worth USD 421 million. Some other items with a decrease in import turnover compared to the same period in 2022 such as auto parts and accessories down 21.5%, and household electrical goods and components down 30.8%.

Notably, in terms of the import market, China continues to be the largest source of goods for Vietnam in the first month of 2023 with an estimated turnover of USD 14.6 billion, down 21.2% over the same period last year. 2022. Imports from Korea are estimated at USD 8.2 billion, down 19.3%; ASEAN is estimated at USD 29.7 billion, down 18.7%; Japan fell 5.2%.

Source: Customs News

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