Positive results in the first five months of the year are an important foundation for commodity exports in 2022 to achieve the set target, which is expected to exceed USD 363 billion.

In the first five months of 2022, export of goods achieved many outstanding results. According to the General Statistics Office, over the past five months, the export value has reached over USD 152.81 billion, the highest compared to the same period to date.

Compared to the same period in 2021, exports increased by 16.3%. Export growth was achieved in both areas. In particular, the domestic economic sector grew by 20.8%, higher than the general rate (an increase of 16.3%) and the foreign-invested sector (an increase of 14.8%). Thereby, it shows that the domestic economic sector has made better use of advantages in land, climate, labor as well as advantages brought by free trade agreements.

Among the 34 major export items, there are 30 items with growth. In which, 18 items increased by over USD 300 million; 13 items increased by over USD 500 million; 5 items increased by over USD 1 billion.

Over the past 5 months, there are 26 items with export turnover of over USD 1 billion, of which 6 items are approximately USD 7 billion, the largest are phones and components; followed by electronics, computers and components; machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts; textile; footwear; timber and wood products.

The largest export market of Vietnam in the first five months of the year is the US, with USD 46.7 billion; Vietnam's largest import market is China, with USD 49.6 billion.

Due to the higher scale and growth rate of exports than imports, in the first five months of the year, Vietnam had a trade surplus of USD 516 million.

Besides the outstanding points, export activities also reveal a number of problems to note. Some commodities have decreased export volume, such as cashew nuts, tea, pepper, clinker and cement, crude oil, petroleum, plastic raw materials, textile fibers, iron and steel. Some items with reduced export turnover such as vegetables, cashew nuts, tea, rice. In May alone, the trade deficit was quite large (USD 1,730 billion), which is a warning sign of the possibility of switching from a trade surplus in the previous six 6 years to a trade deficit this year.

Notably, imports of many commodities decreased in volume (such as cashew nuts, corn, ores and other minerals, coal, crude oil, fertilizers, plastics, paper, cotton, textiles, iron and steel, etc.), indicating that the supply disruption is still ongoing.

If the average export growth rate for the whole year reaches 8% (as the target set by the Ministry of Industry and Trade), the export turnover of the whole year would reach USD 363 billion. If imports also have the same growth rate as exports, the whole year's import turnover would reach about USD 359 billion and a trade surplus of about USD 4 billion would be recorded. Accordingly, 2022 will be the 8th consecutive year of trade surplus.

Kylie Nguyen