Industrial production value increases by 15.5% in 11 months

The Ministry of Planning and Investment’s (MPI) statistics show that in November the industrial production value of the State-run sector rose by 6.9%, private sector 18.1% and the foreign-invested sector 17.9% compared to the same period last year.

Over the past 11 months, many items have seen a higher growth rate than the year plan (16.3%), such as processed seafood, milk powder, clothes, ceramics, compact bulbs, automobiles, fridges, transformers and steel vessels.

The provinces that obtained industrial production value equal to or higher than the same period last year are Hải Phòng, Vĩnh Phúc, Thanh Hóa, Bình Dương, Đồng Nai, and Cần Thơ.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the financial crisis in the US has adversely impacted on the penetration of Viêt Nam’s industrial exports into the US and other major markets like Japan and the EU.

The MPI’s Department of Industrial Economics suggests commercial banks continue lowering lending interest rates for projects on infrastructure, production and export of encouraged items to help businesses stabilize their operation and make profits.

Higher import excess due to the increase of input materials

Over the past 11 months, the country’s total export turnover has reached US$ 58.5 billion, 34% higher than the same period last year. Except for crude oil and coke going down by 10.2% and 35% respectively, major exports have retained their high growth rate, such as apparels with a turnover of US $8.4 billion (up 19%), footwear US $4.2 billion (18.3%) and wood products US $2.5 billion (20%).

The import turnover was estimated at US $75.4 billion, an increase of 38.4% compared to the same period last year.

So, the import excess over export in the first 11 months may reach US $16.9 billion.

The MPI attributed the trade gap figure to increased import of input materials for domestic production, especially automobile spare parts, cotton, chemicals, pesticides, animal food, computer kits, and equipment for big industrial projects.

By Ngọc Vân