According to a report by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the goods export turnover was estimated at US$25.88 billion in February 2023, an increase of 9.8% compared to January 2023. In this, the domestic economic sector reached US$6.08 billion, up 11.7%; The FDI sector (including crude oil) reached $19.8 billion, up 9.3%.

DISCOUNT COUNTRY, DISCOUNT PRICE

Compared with the same period last year, export sales of goods increased by 11% in February 2023, of which the domestic economic sector increased by 5.7% and the foreign-invested sector (including crude oil) increased by 12.7%.

In general, Vietnam’s goods import and export turnover is estimated at US$96 billion in the first two months of 2023, down 13.2% from the same period last year. The export of goods was estimated at USD 49.49 billion, which corresponds to a decrease of 10.4% compared to the same period last year. Export sales of domestic enterprises fell by nearly 21.1% to reach US$11.52 billion; FDI companies (including crude oil) fell 6.6% to hit $37.92 billion. Imports fell 16% in 2 months to reach USD 46.62 billion.

In the first two months of 2023, there were 8 items with export sales over USD 1 billion, accounting for 69.9% of the total export sales (there were 3 export items with over USD 5 billion, accounting for 45.9%) .

Export prices fell for most commodities in the first two months of the year, contributing to a slowdown in overall export growth. Average export prices of agricultural products such as cashews, coffee, cassava and cassava products fell by 3.7%, 1.7% and 8.5% respectively compared to the same period last year (nut prices), consumption fell by 31.4%, rubber fell by 20.6%. ).

Prices of processed industrial products also fell sharply, such as fertilizers down 25.5%, plastic raw materials down 24.8% and iron and steel down 32%. However, the prices of some commodities such as rice, gasoline, coal and tea tended to rise in the same period last year.

Exports of many items in the “billion-USD” group fell sharply during the same period, such as: computers, electronic products and components were valued at $6.87 billion, down 13.9%; Machinery, equipment, tools and parts were valued at $6.4 billion, down 1.6%; Textiles and apparel were valued at $4.55 billion, down 19.6%; All Kinds of Shoes was valued at $2.76 billion, down 15.8%; Timber and wood products down 34.8%…

As for the export market, Vietnam’s exports to most key markets fell sharply in the first two months of the year compared to the same period last year. Although the US is Vietnam’s largest export market with an estimated $13.1 billion in sales, it has fallen by 21% over the same period.

Exports to the EU reached USD 6.9 billion, down 4.2%. For timber and timber products, the US and EU will continue to reduce import demand due to the impact of inflation, economic recession and low consumer confidence. Despite benefiting from new generation free trade agreements, the technical standards, compliance, wood origin verification requirements… that the EU raises are problems that are not easy to overcome.

Export sales to ASEAN reached US$4.6 billion, down 8%; Korea reached US$3.5 billion, down 5.7%; Japan reached US$3.2 billion, down 5.9%… Abundant supply and high inventories in the markets, especially in Japan and Korea, led to a slowdown in the order trend and a decline in the export price of raw wood . Although the Chinese market has reopened, the domestic supply chain has not fully recovered, which poses many risks.

Seafood importers in major markets such as US, Japan, EU, UK… tend to reduce their stocks to optimize costs related to high inflation, causing consumers to limit their spending restrict than before.

For the Chinese market in particular, the reopening policy from early 2023 after almost three years of implementation of the “Zero Covid” policy has had a positive impact on Vietnam’s exports to this market. The export of goods to the Chinese market reached USD 8.2 billion in the first two months of the year, up 4.2% from the same period last year.

DEVELOPMENT OF THE TRADITIONAL MARKET AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE EXPORT MARKET

According to Mr. Vu Ba Phu, director of the Department of Trade Promotion (Ministry of Industry and Trade), exporting goods is very difficult due to the decline in purchasing power around the world. The number of orders fell by over 60%, only 1/3 compared to previous years. Like every year, most of the orders are signed from the beginning of the year to the end of autumn, but this year orders were only received in the first 6 months of the year, especially the number of large orders is very small.

This is because the economic downturn has shown no signs of recovery, many major markets are facing difficulties, consumer psychology is focused on buying essentials…

However, many forecasts say that the global economy will not plunge into a severe recession in 2023. Some large economies will make soft landings. In the final months of 2023, the global economy will recover and show positive growth. At this time, purchasing power and international trade will be more active. In order to catch up with Mr. Phu, it is necessary to keep a close eye on new developments in the world through advisors and businesses.

Mr. Tran Thanh Hai, deputy director of the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Commerce), agreed, assessing that in the first two months of the year there was a significant decline in a number of commodity groups such as seafood, cashews, coffee , rice, etc., rubber… this trend may not end anytime soon as the Russia-Ukraine conflict shows no signs of ending. Therefore, it is necessary to find solutions to remove and coordinate actions by both domestic and foreign entities. In the future there will be a more comprehensive export promotion plan.

Also according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, there is a need to promote market diversification and diversify product lines in order to reduce dependence on traditional markets/industries. In particular, the development of the markets in Northern Europe, Eastern Europe and Latin America is low, but has a high growth rate and a lot of room for exploitation. Use the rapid recovery of the markets in the ASEAN region and some Asian countries to boost exports.

Mr Dang Viet Phuong, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Phu Tho Province, shared that tea exports to Russia completely stalled, even with containers that had arrived at the port for transport and had to return due to the impact of the conflict Russia – Ukraine. After shipping reopened, the store faced payment problems again.

Faced with the above difficulties, in order to eliminate difficulties in the production of tea plants, Phu Tho decided in 2023 to export tea and bananas to a number of markets, the largest of which is Bangladesh, as the Bangladeshi market population is 160 million has , the demand is very high.

Therefore, Mr. Phuong wishes that foreign Vietnamese traders and trade advisers support the introduction of local tea products in particular and the Northeast in general.

At the same time, invite representatives of Vietnam’s trade office abroad such as India, Russia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia… to attend a symposium on tea export to be held on April 24, 2023 by the province.