months of the year, an increase of 700 million USD compared with last
month's figure, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said on August 24.
Excessive imports helped push the total to 18.3 percent of the year's total export turnover.
The country imported products worth 52.68 billion USD in the first
eight months, a rise of 24.4 percent over last year. The domestic sector
accounted for 30.3 billion USD of the imports, an increase of 13.2
percent, while the foreign direct investment sector imported 22.37
billion USD worth of goods, a rise of 43.6 percent.
Import turnover in August was 6.9 billion USD.
Imported commodities with the highest import turnover included
materials for industrial export production such as mechanical machines
(14.9 percent); electronics, computers and accessories (31.5 percent);
clothes (26.6 percent); textile and garment materials (38.1 percent),
and metals (79.9 percent).
Imported automobiles and fertiliser decreased by 30.5 percent and 10.8 percent, respectively.
The general export turnover was estimated at 44.52 billion USD during
the period, an increase of 19.7 percent compared to the same period last
year. The domestic sector contributed 46 percent, or 20.56 billion USD,
of the turnover, while the remaining 23.96 billion USD was imported by
foreign invested companies.
GSO's Acting Director of
Trade Department Le Minh Thuy said that August exports were slower,
decreasing 0.5 percent in comparison with last month. However, the
export of gold contributed significantly to the export turnover in
helping to keep the total turnover steady.
"If we
did not count gold exports, the trade deficit in the first eight months
would be 9.8 billion USD instead of 8.15 billion USD, and would make up
22 percent of the total export turnover," she said.
Commodities that experienced a significant increase in export turnover
included steel, 220 percent (466 million USD); rubber, 89.3 percent (543
million USD); chemical products, 83.9 percent (185 million USD);
transportation and accessories, 83.0 percent (458 million USD); and
electric wire and cable, 72.2 percent (347 million USD).
Other industries that experienced export turnover included textiles
and garments (17.8 percent), wood and wood products (36.1 percent),
rubber (89.3 percent), footwear (18.8 percent), electronics and
computers (30.2 percent); and mechanical machines and accessories (61.2
percent)./.
