Vietnam spends more than $900 million on petroleum imports in January

According to the General Department of Customs, the total value of national imports and exports in January 2023 reached $46.56 billion, indicating a 17.3% decrease compared to the previous month. The value of exports decreased by 18.7% to $23.61 billion, while imports decreased by 15.9% to $22.95 billion. 

Despite the decline in imports and exports, the trade balance in goods for January 2023 registered a surplus of $656 million. However, compared to the same period in 2022, the total value of imports and exports declined by 25%.

The report by the General Department of Customs highlights that in January 2023, the import of various kinds of petroleum products into Vietnam increased significantly in two main markets: South Korea and Singapore. 

Vietnam imported 369 thousand tons of petroleum products from South Korea, which is triple the amount imported in the previous month. Meanwhile, the import of petroleum products from Singapore also rose by 2.5 times, reaching 243 thousand tons. 

The volume of imports of petroleum products from Malaysia was 220 thousand tons, an increase of 28.5%, while imports from Thailand were 83 thousand tons, a decrease of 18.4%.

However, the import of some goods decreased in January 2023. For instance, imports of machinery, equipment, tools, and spare parts declined by $798 million, and imports of phones and components decreased by $618 million. 

On the other hand, imports of computers, electronic products, and components increased by $776 million, and imports of petroleum increased by $89 million compared to the previous month.

Furthermore, the export value of some goods declined significantly in January 2023, such as computer and electronic products, textile and garment products, wood and wood products, footwear, and seafood.

However, the export value of phone and component groups increased by 61.7% compared to the previous month, reaching $5.02 billion, and the export of glass and glass products increased by 7.4%.

The United States remained one of the major export destinations for phones and components, while China was the largest importer of this group of goods from Vietnam in January 2023.