The trade deficit continued its down-turn, falling to 8.9 billion USD inthe first 11 months of 2011, a year-on-year decrease of 1.7 billionUSD, the General Statistics Office (GSO) said.
The GSO said growth in exports had been higher than imports in current months.
In the first 11 months of this year, export turnover was 22.5 billionUSD, up 34.7 percent over the same period last year. Meanwhile, importsin the same period rose 26.4 percent, worth 96.07 billion USD.
"The price of many Vietnamese exports has increased in the current timeso that the export turnover has been pushed up," said head of theoffice's Trade Department Le Thi Minh Thuy.
"The price ofagriculture products increased by up to 66 percent while the price ofcrude oil increased by 43.6 percent," Thuy added.
On thecontrary, Thuy noted, the prices of some imported raw materials such asfuel, cotton, rubber and steel had dropped over two months.
"Furthermore, the demand to import raw materials to serve domesticproduction has remained steady as many companies cut down production dueto challenges caused by financial difficulties, high inflation, bankinginterest rates as well as high foreign exchange rates," she said.
During this time, many exports saw significant development. Coffeereached the highest growth in value (52.8 percent) followed by cashews(32.9 percent), garments and textiles (28 percent) and footwear (25.8percent).
Some imports experiencing increased value included fertiliser (53.9 percent) and rubber (52 percent).
Thuy predicted that import value in the last month of this year wouldincrease to serve production in order to meet coming New Year festivaldemands.
The industrial sectors of steel, electronics andautos, often considered pillars of the economy, are currently the maincause of the country's high trade deficit, industry insiders have said.
The situation is quite different from that in other regional countrieswhere the three industries are often the major export earners. InMalaysia , for example, the country earns up to 60 billion USD per yearfrom exports of electronic products. According to the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade, the three industries made up a trade deficit ofnearly 10 billion USD out of the country's total deficit of nearly 13billion USD last year.
The ministry reported that theelectronics industry last year exported goods worth a total of 3.15billion USD, but had to spend 5.14 billion USD to import completedproducts and parts.
The same situation was seen with theauto industry that saw an import value of 2.9 billion USD of cars andcomponents last year against an export value of 1.5 billion USD.
The steel industry was the main culprit last year, spending 7 billionUSD on imports of steel products and ingots while earning only 1 billionUSD from exports.
This year, the steel industry tradedeficit has been estimated at 4 billion USD, the electronics industry atnearly 3 billion USD and the auto industry at 1 billion USD.
Experts attributed the shortage to the flood of cheap Chinese productsinto the domestic market and a tax reduction in accordance with thecountry's commitment to the ASEAN Free Trade Area.
However, the restriction of supporting industries was the main cause ofthe high trade deficit as the three industries had to import nearly allmaterials and components for production.
Chairman of theVietnam Steel Association Pham Chi Cuong said that the country's steelproduction was still in its fledgling stages and had to mainly depend onimported steel ingots.
The industry has to import roughly 45 percent of steel ingots and 80 percent of scrap for domestic steel production.
Cuong said the steel industry could currently only produce constructionsteel, not high-quality products such as heat-resistant flat steel andalloy steel, so almost all of that had to be imported.
The electronics industry also has to import 90 per cent of components while the auto industry imports 80 percent of parts.
Experts said they had concerns that it would be difficult to reduce thetrade deficit caused by the three industries' imports in the futurebecause supporting industries would not be able to catch up withdomestic demand. /.
The GSO said growth in exports had been higher than imports in current months.
In the first 11 months of this year, export turnover was 22.5 billionUSD, up 34.7 percent over the same period last year. Meanwhile, importsin the same period rose 26.4 percent, worth 96.07 billion USD.
"The price of many Vietnamese exports has increased in the current timeso that the export turnover has been pushed up," said head of theoffice's Trade Department Le Thi Minh Thuy.
"The price ofagriculture products increased by up to 66 percent while the price ofcrude oil increased by 43.6 percent," Thuy added.
On thecontrary, Thuy noted, the prices of some imported raw materials such asfuel, cotton, rubber and steel had dropped over two months.
"Furthermore, the demand to import raw materials to serve domesticproduction has remained steady as many companies cut down production dueto challenges caused by financial difficulties, high inflation, bankinginterest rates as well as high foreign exchange rates," she said.
During this time, many exports saw significant development. Coffeereached the highest growth in value (52.8 percent) followed by cashews(32.9 percent), garments and textiles (28 percent) and footwear (25.8percent).
Some imports experiencing increased value included fertiliser (53.9 percent) and rubber (52 percent).
Thuy predicted that import value in the last month of this year wouldincrease to serve production in order to meet coming New Year festivaldemands.
The industrial sectors of steel, electronics andautos, often considered pillars of the economy, are currently the maincause of the country's high trade deficit, industry insiders have said.
The situation is quite different from that in other regional countrieswhere the three industries are often the major export earners. InMalaysia , for example, the country earns up to 60 billion USD per yearfrom exports of electronic products. According to the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade, the three industries made up a trade deficit ofnearly 10 billion USD out of the country's total deficit of nearly 13billion USD last year.
The ministry reported that theelectronics industry last year exported goods worth a total of 3.15billion USD, but had to spend 5.14 billion USD to import completedproducts and parts.
The same situation was seen with theauto industry that saw an import value of 2.9 billion USD of cars andcomponents last year against an export value of 1.5 billion USD.
The steel industry was the main culprit last year, spending 7 billionUSD on imports of steel products and ingots while earning only 1 billionUSD from exports.
This year, the steel industry tradedeficit has been estimated at 4 billion USD, the electronics industry atnearly 3 billion USD and the auto industry at 1 billion USD.
Experts attributed the shortage to the flood of cheap Chinese productsinto the domestic market and a tax reduction in accordance with thecountry's commitment to the ASEAN Free Trade Area.
However, the restriction of supporting industries was the main cause ofthe high trade deficit as the three industries had to import nearly allmaterials and components for production.
Chairman of theVietnam Steel Association Pham Chi Cuong said that the country's steelproduction was still in its fledgling stages and had to mainly depend onimported steel ingots.
The industry has to import roughly 45 percent of steel ingots and 80 percent of scrap for domestic steel production.
Cuong said the steel industry could currently only produce constructionsteel, not high-quality products such as heat-resistant flat steel andalloy steel, so almost all of that had to be imported.
The electronics industry also has to import 90 per cent of components while the auto industry imports 80 percent of parts.
Experts said they had concerns that it would be difficult to reduce thetrade deficit caused by the three industries' imports in the futurebecause supporting industries would not be able to catch up withdomestic demand. /.
