HCM City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City’s foreign trade totalled more than 60.48billion USD in the first eight months of this year, down 0.03 percent against thesame period of 2019.
In the January-Augustperiod, the southern economic hub shipped 28.4 billion USD worth of goods abroad,up 4 percent year-on-year. Excluding crude oil, exports reached 27.8 billionUSD, up 5.8 percent year-on-year.
Shipmentsof industrial goods rose 5.6 percent year-on-year to 19.65 billion USD, contributingthe largest share to the total, at 78.1 percent. Computers, electronics and componentsmade up 45.2 percent of the total, growing 26.2 percent to over 11.2 billionUSD. Meanwhile, textiles-garment and footwear posted sharp declines of 20.4percent and 12 percent, respectively.
Exportsof agricultural products exceeded 2.34 billion USD, down 0.6 percentyear-on-year, with rice shipments worth 705.8 million USD, up 14.2 percent. Conversely,exports of rubber nosedived 42.6 percent to 222.8 million USD.
Chinaremained HCM City’s largest customer during the reviewed period, importing morethan 6.84 billion USD, up 35.5 percent from a year earlier and representing26.2 percent of the total. It was followed by the US and Japan.
Thecity’s imports were valued at over 32 billion USD in the period, down 2.8percent. Main import items included machinery and components, and consumergoods./.