Exports boost trade surplus in Ho Chi Minh City

October 25, 2011 | 15:01

(0) user say

Ho Chi Minh City had a trade surplus of nearly $700 million in the first 10 months of the year thanks to high growth rates of many key export staples, according to the municipal Statistics Office.

Ho Chi Minh city

The office said the city's total export turnover in January-October reached $22.2 billion, up 18.9 per cent over the same period last year.

Besides crude oil and gold, which made up a third of the city's total export earning in the first 10 months, exports of garments and textiles, rice, footwear, and seafood also surged sharply during the period. Garments and textiles, accounting for more than 16 per cent of the city's total export value, fetched nearly $1.8 billion, up 18.9 per cent over the same period last year.

With a shipment of nearly 2.4 million tonnes in ten months, rice also contributed $1.14 billion to the city's total export turnover, up 10.8 per cent. Export of footwear surged 18.2 per cent to nearly $500 million, while the rising rate of seafood export was 13.5 per cent with nearly $339 million.

The office forecast a continuously optimistic export of footwear for the remaining months of the year, as the EU lifted the anti-dumping duty imposed on the Vietnamese products. The Vietnam Footwear Association also said that footwear producers have so far won export contracts for the year end and some even have contracts for the first quarter next year.

However, the export of seafood for the rest of the year is a concern due a shortage of materials.

Shipment of textile and garment to the US - Vietnam's largest textile and garment importer - will also decline due to the market' economic difficulties.

VIR/VNA

What the stars mean:

★ Poor ★ ★ Promising ★★★ Good ★★★★ Very good ★★★★★ Exceptional