November was the third consecutive month the industrial growth rate was under 16 percent.

In the first eight months of the year, industrial production growth was between 16 and 19 percent.

The GSO reported that industrial production in November earned the country VND55.3 trillion.

GSO experts attributed the slow growth rate to the global economic downturn, saying that falling demand and dropping commodity prices were adversely affecting export earnings. Crude oil, one of the country’s key exports, for example, has seen prices fall to only 30 percent of July prices.

The GSO estimated total industrial production values in the first eleven months of the year would reach VND601 trillion, up 15.6 percent over the same period last year.

Many of the country’s key industrial products posted low production growth rates. Sugar production rose 8.6 percent, motorbikes 5.8 percent, paper 5.7 percent and fertilizer a mere 3.1 percent.

Production of steel reached only 3 million tonnes, down 11.2 percent. Crude oil also reported a decrease of 7.1 percent, at 13 million tonnes. Coal, cloth and glass were also down between 3.3 and 5.8 percent.

However, despite the slowdown in many sectors, a number of industrial products saw rates rise above the average 15 percent.

Truck and bus manufacturing topped the list with growth rates of 51.7 and 43.3 percent, respectively. Washing machine production, seafood processing and garments also posted high growth rates of more than 30 percent.

Of the country’s total industrial production value, foreign-invested firms contributed VND245.1 trillion, a 18.1 percent increase over the corresponding period last year.

Although ranked second with VND210.6 trillion, private enterprises were reported to be the sector with the highest growth rate of 20 percent.

With a growth rate of only 5.6 percent, State-owned enterprises brought in only VND145.5 trillion, the GSO said.