The export growth of almost all commodities in August fell sharply or made no headway after last month’s slight recovery.

According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), the country’s export turnover in the first eight months reached approximately 37.3 billion USD, representing a year-on-year decrease of 14.2 percent. All staple commodities experienced strong falls in export revenues.

Crude oil – one of the staples which makes up a large proportion of the country’s export turnover was the most affected with a fall in revenue of 48 percent, followed by rubber at 41 percent, coal 21 percent, coffee 17.7 percent and cashew nuts at 13.5 percent.

Rice exports experienced a remarkable decrease in value, the first drop after rising for consecutive months since the beginning of the year. In the first eight months, the country exported nearly 4.7 million tonnes of rice, earning 2.15 billion USD, up 43 percent in volume and down 1.4 percent in value compared to the same period last year.

Garments and textiles also dropped 1.4 percent year on year after retaining a positive growth for many months, reaching just over 5.9 billion USD in the first eight months.

While exports continue to face difficulties, imports saw an upwards trend resulting in a trade deficit of 1.5 billion USD in August, the highest level for the past five months. This figure has brought the country’s eight-month trade deficit to 5.1 billion USD, 13.8 percent of its total export revenue.

According to the National Centre for Socio-Economic Information and Forecasting (NCEIF) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Vietnam ’s export turnover is forecast to reach 58.7-61.3 billion USD this year, down by between 2.2 percent and 6.4 percent against 2008.

This is attributable to the impact of the global economic recession on Vietnam’s major export markets, including the US, the EU, Japan, northeast Asian and other ASEAN countries, which are predicted to see only a marginal increase in the import of goods, except essential ones, said the centre.

The NCEIF, however, said that if the world economy shows signs of recovery and the government implements more measures to boost exports, this year’s export turnover may be higher than estimated, even equal to the 2008 figure./.