The Ministry of Industry and Trade promotes support for import-export businesses

Import and export turnover tended to decrease in the first 2 months of the year. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is actively promoting the implementation of solutions to support businesses.

Import and export turnover slows down

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in January 2022, there are two Tet holidays, the number of working days in the month is small, so the total import-export turnover is low. However, by February, import and export activities had become active again with an estimated turnover of 49.46 billion USD, an increase of 6.2% over the previous month and an increase of 1.8% over the same period last year. last. In which, exports are estimated to increase by 9.8% over the previous month and 11% over the same period. Imports increased by 2.3% month-on-month and decreased by 6.7% year-on-year.

However, the absence of export orders plus the downward trend of commodity prices have made our country's trade activities continue to slow down in the first months of 2023. Generally in the first two months of 2023, export turnover of the country continued to slow down. Vietnam's goods import was estimated at 96 billion USD, down 13.2% over the same period last year. In which, export turnover decreased by 10.4%, reaching 49.44 billion USD; imports decreased by 16%, reaching 46.62 billion USD.

Specifically, in February 2023, the export turnover of goods was estimated at 25.88 billion USD, up 9.8% compared to January 2023, of which, the domestic economic sector reached 6.08 billion USD. , up 11.7%; FDI sector (including crude oil) reached 19.8 billion USD, up 9.3%. Compared to the same period last year, the export turnover of goods in February 2023 increased by 11%, of which the domestic economic sector increased by 5.7%, the foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) increased. 12.7%

Generally, in the first two months of 2023, merchandise exports were estimated at 49.49 billion USD, down 10.4% over the same period last year. In the first two months of 2023, there were 08 items with export turnover of over 1 billion USD, accounting for 69.9% of total export turnover.

Besides, the price of export goods in the first 2 months of the year recorded a decrease in most of the items, causing a decrease in overall export growth. The average export prices of agricultural products such as cashew kernels, coffee, cassava and cassava products decreased by 3.7%, 1.7% and 8.5% respectively over the same period last year. In particular, the price of pepper decreased by 31.4%, rubber decreased by 20.6%). Prices of processed industrial products also dropped sharply such as fertilizers down 25.5%, plastic raw materials down 24.8%, iron and steel down 32%.

However, prices of some commodities such as rice, gasoline, coal, and tea tended to increase over the same period last year.

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

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 $9.42 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 626 million USD, mainly because crude oil exports increased by 12.4% over the same period.

Regarding imports, the import turnover of goods in February 2023 was estimated at 23.58 billion USD, up 2.3% over the previous month. Generally in the first two months of 2023, import turnover is estimated at 46.62 billion USD, down 16% compared to the same period in 2022. Import of goods decreased in the first 2 months of the year due to the decrease in the demand for raw materials of enterprises in the first two months of the year. the context of a lack of orders, due to the fact that the price of imported goods has dropped significantly recently. There were 15/19 imported items with prices falling in the first 2 months of 2023 compared to the same period last year.

With such results, Vietnam's trade balance in February 2023 continued to have a surplus of 2.3 billion USD, bringing the total trade deficit in the first 2 months of the year to 2.82 billion USD (the same period last year, the more than $300 million). In which, the domestic economic sector has a trade deficit of 3.69 billion USD; FDI sector (including crude oil) had a trade surplus of 6.51 billion USD.

Exports face difficulties in many products and markets

The international context has negatively affected the exports of some key commodity groups of our country in the first two months of 2023. The Ministry of Industry and Trade informed that textile and garment exports to two key markets, the US and the EU, declined. decline; 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, although benefiting from new-generation free trade agreements, the technical standards, conformity, requirements to prove the origin of wood ... that the EU posed are problems. not easy 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 completely 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 up. spending more than before” – the Ministry of Industry and Trade pointed out.

Regarding the market, in the first 2 months of 2023, Vietnam's exports to most 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 13.1 billion USD, down 21% over the same period. Exports to the EU reached $6.9 billion, down 4.2%; ASEAN reached $4.6 billion, down 8%; Korea reached 3.5 billion USD, down 5.7%; Japan reached $3.2 billion, down 5.9%... Particularly for the Chinese market, with the reopening policy from the beginning of 2023 after nearly three years of implementing the "Zero Covid" policy, it has had an impact. positive impact on Vietnam's exports to this market. In which, the export of goods to the Chinese market in the first two months of the year reached $8.2 billion, up 4.2% over the same period last year.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade strengthens businesses to remove difficulties

According to the analysis of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, according to the cycle of previous years, the trade deficit usually comes in the first months of the year because businesses promote the import of raw materials for export production. But this year with the absence of orders from the main markets, the situation of importing input materials has somewhat subsided. This also shows that import and export activities are likely to remain difficult in the coming months.

Therefore, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is continuing to closely monitor developments in the world market, Advising and supporting cooperation frameworks and solutions to simultaneously develop traditional markets and diversifying export markets. export. In addition, supporting businesses to take advantage of signed FTAs to effectively exploit markets, promote exports, etc.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has been continuously organizing trade promotion conferences to provide market information and find solutions to overcome difficulties for import and export enterprises.

At the recent January trade promotion conference, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien shared that the Ministry of Industry and Trade will focus on market development solutions, especially in Northern Europe, Eastern Europe and Latin America. … and new markets have plenty of room for exploitation.

At the same time, promote the negotiation of new free trade agreements (FTAs) such as FTAs with Mercosur countries (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay) to turn this FTA into a driving force to exploit the Latin American market. Take advantage of the rapid recovery of markets in the ASEAN region and some Asian countries to boost exports.

In addition, the ministry will comprehensively evaluate China's reopening measures, taking advantage of opportunities for exchanges and cooperation between the two sides to boost exports of goods that are not subject to COVID-19 testing. Improve efficiency and well regulate the speed of customs clearance at the border gate.