Total trade turnover rises by 8.5 per cent on year to US$202.02 billion in the first five months of 2019.

Statistics released by the General Department of Customs of Vietnam indicate that the country’s total trade turnover was recorded at US$44.3 billion in May, an increase of 6.9 per cent from April.

Of the figure, the nation raked in an estimated US$21.5 billion from exports, a rise of 5.2 per cent in comparison to the previous month, while imports jumped by 8.6 per cent to US$22.8 billion.

The export growth was attributed to most key staples soaring in comparison with April.

Notably, crude oil exports were at US$190 million, a surge of 62.5 per cent, while footwear shipments were estimated to be at US$1.75 billion, up 20.2 per cent. Aquatic exports rose by 18.3 per cent to US$750 million, whilst steel exports increased by 5.4 per cent to 600,000 tons.

Meanwhile, the import of petroleum products stood at 650,000 tons in May, worth US$430 million in total. These figures saw respective drops of 34.1 per cent and 33.8 per cent against April.

Other imports such as iron and steel, fabrics, ordinary metals, telephone and components all increased in comparison with the previous month.

Overall, the first five months of 2019 saw the total trade turnover rise by 8.5 per cent on year to US$202.02 billion.

Exports brought home US$100.74 billion, representing a modest hike of 6.7 per cent, much lower than the respective ratios of 19 per cent and 17.5 per cent seen during the same period of 2017 and 2018.

In the five-month period, the country spent a total of US$101.28 billion on imports, a surge of 10.3 per cent on year.

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