HANOI: Vietnamese textiles and garment exports will possibly hit US$27.1 billion this year, an increase of more than 10 percent from 2014, local media reported.
Local producers shipped $20.63 billion worth of textile and garment products in the first 11 months, up 8.9 percent from the same period last year, according to the latest figures released by Vietnam Customs.
The US was Vietnam’s largest market with $9.88 billion worth of apparel, up 11.7 percent. EU and Japan were ranked second and third with imports of $3.09 billion and $2.53 billion.
Vietnam’s textiles and garment shipment has been rising strongly, even though there were no remarkable increases in its major markets, such as the US, whose imports rose 4.8 percent year-on-year, news website Saigon Times Online quoted Vinatex representative Tran Viet as saying. Vinatex is the country’s biggest apparel producer.
Viet said, despite the sharp increase in revenues, Vietnamese exporters’ profits have not risen accordingly as they have had to cut their margin to compete with other exporters such as China, India and Indonesia.
In the past few months, these countries have depreciated their currencies, which have in turned made their products cheaper, he said.
Vinatex expected to record exports of $3.4 billion this year, but its profit will be equal to last year’s, around VND1.35 trillion ($59.86 million).
