Electronics sector drags October exports down

The dip in exports was led by a 13.5 percent fall in the export of phones and components in October, which accounted for almost 21 percent, or $4.7 billion, of the total export turnover, the General Statistics Office said in its latest report.

It attributed the fall to South Korea’s Samsung Electronics, which manufactures most of Vietnam’s smartphone exports, ending a period of heightened production for its newest version of the Galaxy Note, which was released in early August.

Between January and October, Vietnam registered a trade surplus of $7 billion, in which exports rose 7.4 percent year-on-year to $217.05 billion and imports rose 7.8 percent to $210 billion.

Phones and components continued to be the country’s biggest export item, accounting for 20 percent of export turnover, followed by electronics, computers and components, textiles, and footwear.

The U.S. continued to be Vietnam’s largest export market with a turnover of $49.9 billion, up 26.6 percent year-on-year, followed by the EU, China, ASEAN and Japan.

Electronics, computers and components led imports and accounted for 20.5 percent of total import turnover. It was followed by machinery, phones and components, textiles, and steel.

Vietnam continued to import the most from China, at 29.5 percent of all imports, followed by South Korea, ASEAN, Japan, the EU and the U.S.