Seven manufacturing goods post US$1 billion-plus exports in two months

Phone and phone parts recorded the largest revenues at US$6.9 billion, followed by computers and electronics at US$5.363 billion and garments at US$4.52 billion.

Other major earners included machinery and equipment (US$2.985 billion), footwear (US$2.7 billion), timber products (US$1.5 billion) and transport vehicles (US$1.4 billion).

The MOIT said the manufacturing sector’s total revenue hit US$31.39 billion in the first two months of 2020, up 4.1% over the same period last year and accounting for 85.01% of Vietnam’s total exports.

In February, the sector’s exports reached US$16 billion, with phone and phone parts making up US$4.2 billion, up 55.8% against January, thanks to the shipment of Samsung’s new Galaxy S20 smartphone and its variants.

But, due to the coronavirus outbreak, farming exports in the January-February period shrank by 14%, to US$3.03 billion, with only rice and cassava exports posting rises in the two months.

The MOIT has projected that Vietnam’s export and import activities will face numerous difficulties in the short run as the coronavirus continues its spread outside China, especially in Japan and the Republic of Korea, which are Vietnam’s major trading partners.