Contrasting export performance in the first two months

In January-February, despite the long Tet holiday, the apparel sector still recorded a 17.7 per cent on-year growth in export value to reach $3.42 billion, with exports to the US market accounting for 44 per cent of the total, according to the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas).

Last year Vietnamese firms raked in nearly $10 billion from exporting textile clothing to the US, producing a 12.6 per cent increase on-year, whereas most other heavyweight rivals just registered slight growths or even contractions in export values.

For example, China’s textile garment export value to the US rose less than 1 per cent, India increased by 6 per cent while Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Cambodia saw negative growths.

This year, Vitas expects the Vietnamese textile garment export to the US market to surpass $11 billion, a 13 per cent jump compared to last year.

Besides the apparel industry, the footwear sector has also registered a two-digit growth in the first two months with the aggregate export value exceeding $2 billion, signifying a 23 per cent increase on-year.

According to the Vietnam Leather and Footwear Association (LEFASO), Vietnam’s footwear export to the US is rising quickly and is forecast to obtain a bigger slice in the market, mostly expanding on the declining share of Chinese-made footwear items.

These performances are in contrast with those of the two other major export items, coffee and seafood.

Accordingly, the seafood sector saw a 9.4 per cent decline in export value falling to $907 million while coffee producers could only ship a total of 241,000 tonnes at $511 million, recording a 25.3 per cent fall in volume and 16.4 per cent in value.

In January 2015, total seafood export value to the US market dropped by nearly 37 per cent to a mere $90 million against January 2014.

The Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) stated the Vietnamese shrimp and Tra fish export items have been heavily disadvantaged by targeted US anti-dumping tariffs since late 2014, an effect which is expected to continue exerting pressure this year.