It consists of 61.34 billion USD from exports, up 15.4 percent, and 64.07 billion USD from imports, up 24.9 percent from a year earlier.

 

Key export commodities include telephones and components, textile and garment, footwear, and transport vehicles and spare parts.

 

In April, overseas shipments of telephones and components were about 3.6 billion USD, rising by 16.4 percent from the previous month. That added up to 11.37 billion USD in total exports of these items in four months, up 0.3 percent year on year.

 

Although this month’s exports of textile and garment dropped 12 percent from March to 1.85 billion USD, it still posted an annual rise of 9.1 percent to 7.47 billion USD between January and April.

 

A monthly decline, 3.8 percent, was also recorded in footwear exports which stood at 1.05 billion USD in April. However, total exports still went up 9.6 percent on the yearly basis to 4.17 billion USD.

 

Meanwhile, main import items were machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts, computers, electronic products and components, fabric, steel, plastics, and garment and footwear materials.

 

In April, the import turnover of machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts fell 0.2 percent month on month to 3.25 billion USD, which totalled 11.32 billion USD in four months – up 38.9 percent compared to the same period last year.

 

About 2.85 billion USD was spent to import computers, electronic products and components in April, representing a 4.6-percent monthly decrease. It is estimated at 10.45 billion USD in the four-month period, hiking 24.7 percent year on year.

 

Some 1.6 million tonnes of steel worth 945 million USD were imported this month, respectively increasing 8.7 percent and 8.2 percent from March. The import volume has approximated 5.8 million tonnes, down 5.9 percent year on year, with turnover of 3.3 billion USD, up 24.7 percent, since the beginning of 2017.

 

Vietnam experienced trade deficit of 800 million USD in April and nearly 2.74 billion USD in fourth months, Vietnam Customs said.