The trading activities in domestic construction machinery have been strongly effected by public investment cutbacks.

A report from the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that since the beginning of this year, imports of construction machinery have significantly tumbled.

The ministry reported the volume of imported construction machinery in August was only 900 units, worth about 27 million USD.

The figures were down by 57.9 percent in volume and 38.24 percent in value over the same month last year.

This was the third consecutive month where both import volume and value decreased, with the figure for August being the lowest of 2011.

In the first eight months, nearly 11,650 units were sent to the country, worth more than 318 million USD, a year-on-year drop by 31.2 percent in volume and 18.6 percent in value.

Regarding the domestic market, traders also confirmed a downturn in sales.

This trend is predicted to continue to the final months of the year as the Government's policies in controlling inflation persist.

Until now, 90 percent of the construction machinery imported to the country is second hand, mainly from Japan, the Republic of Korea, China, the US and Thailand.

As of this time, Vietnam has about 645 companies which have imported construction machinery./.