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Tag: Vietnam

  • 4,800 containers unclaimed at HCMC ports

    4,800 containers unclaimed at HCMC ports

    Over 4,800 containers have been left unclaimed for more than 90 days at Ho Chi Minh City sea ports, causing difficulties for logistics activities.

    HCMC Customs said that the goods include wood, scrap and others.

    Many companies imported their goods in excess before the seven-day Lunar New Year holiday which began Feb. 8., causing a surge in the number of containers in January.

    Many importers of scraps are “ghost” companies, established with incorrect information regarding who operates them.

    Goods that are left unclaimed will be either sent back to the sender or be destroyed.

    A large number of unclaimed goods can cause congestion at ports and create a shortage of empty containers, which can result in higher transportation charges.

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  • Siemens offers locomotives for Vietnam’s highspeed railway By Viet Tua

    Siemens offers locomotives for Vietnam’s highspeed railway By Viet Tua

    Siemens has expressed interest in Vietnam’s North-South highspeed railway and offered to provide vehicles for the project.

    Siemens president and CEO Roland Busch told Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at a meeting in Hanoi Monday that the company can transfer the technology of building carriages and can provide the trailway signal system for the project.

    The North-South highspeed railway is among the largest transport projects that Vietnam plans for the upcoming decades.

    It should be approved in policy by next year and construction is scheduled to begin before 2030.

    Two sections of the railway, one from Hanoi to Vinh and the other from HCMC to Nha Trang, will begin construction before 2030 and the whole route should be finished by 2045.

    Busch made the offers after PM Chinh proposed that Siemens consider participating in the construction of the railway as well as the second metro line in HCMC, a 11-kilometer that mostly runs underground with a price tag of VND47.8 trillion.

    The PM asked Siemens to partner with Vietnam in the fields of high technology and innovation, green transformation, renewable energy, transportation and digital transformation.

    He also asked about potential for Siemens to build a research and development center built in Vietnam and urged the company to cooperate with the National Innovation Center. He also wants the group to expand cooperation with Vietnamese technology enterprises.

    Vietnam would create favorable conditions for businesses like Siemens to invest long-term, Chinh said.

    In Vietnam, Siemens established a representative office in 1993 and now has three representative offices in Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City. It also has a manufacturing factory in the southern province of Binh Duong.

    Siemens cooperates with Vietnam in many fields, especially renewable energy and transport. Its participation in one solar power project is estimated to contribute one billion kilowatt-hours of electricity to the country’s electricity system each year.

    The company has also designed and supplied 16 diesel locomotives for Vietnam Railway Corporation.

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  • Seafood exports to key markets rise 64%

    Seafood exports to key markets rise 64%

    Vietnam’s seafood exports rose by 64% year-on-year in January to nearly US$750 million, with shipments to China, the U.S. and the EU seeing sharp increases.

    Exports to China tripled, the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) said without providing specific figures.

    It said China, including Hong Kong, is Vietnam’s second biggest seafood market after Japan.

    Exports to Japan rose 43%. The increase were 63% to the U.S. and 34% to the E.U.

    But exporters said challenges that could hamper their recovery persist.

    Shrimp companies said global demand remains weak and therefore prices are low, they still have large inventories and are having difficulty competing with their Indian and Ecuadorian rivals.

    Diseases are also hitting shrimp output, they added.

    Pangasius prices increased by 11% to VND29,000 per kilogram in January.

    They expect a 10% increase in exports to $2 billion this year.

    VASEP said seafood exporters in general are facing difficulties due to geopolitical tensions in the Red Sea and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which have caused shipping costs to soar.

    VASEP expects seafood exports to increase marginally to $9.5 billion this year.

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  • Gasoline prices drop

    Gasoline prices drop

    Gasoline and diesel prices fell Thursday afternoon as global demand is forecast to fall this year.

    The popular gasoline RON95 dropped 1.34% from a week ago to VND23,590 per liter.

    Biofuel E5 RON92 fell 1.58% to VND22,470. Diesel declined by 2.11% to VND20,910.

    RON95 fell 2% to $99.7 per barrel and diesel dropped 3% to $105.03.

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  • Vietnamese fashion brand Yody launches first store in Thailand

    Vietnamese fashion brand Yody launches first store in Thailand

    Vietnamese fashion label Yody will launch its first store in Thailand, the brand’s first physical store abroad.

    The store will be located in an as yet unnamed large Bangkok shopping centre. Yody has already launched an online presence in Thailand and plans to launch in Malaysia in the future.

    Established in 2014, Yody currently has more than 270 stores across Vietnam, focusing on producing “high-quality fashion products and excellent services to customers”.

    The fashion retailer is currently hiring staff in Thailand, preparing for the launch.

    According to Yody’s website, the company has been pushing for worldwide growth since 2022, with plans to expand in the US as well, along with an e-commerce strategy through Amazon.

    Yody prioritises sustainable approaches above the fast-fashion trend. The company writes on its website that it uses S’Cafe fabric (made from coffee beans) as well as other materials such as Coolmax, Airycool, and Birdseye pique fabric.

  • Apple suppliers need 103,000 workers in Vietnam this year

    Apple suppliers need 103,000 workers in Vietnam this year

    U.S. tech giant Apple’s contract manufacturers in Vietnam plan to hire over 103,000 workers this year, mostly for their factories in northern Bac Giang Province.

    Foxconn, Apple’s biggest supplier, needs 15,000 workers for its plants in the Dinh Tram and Quang Chau industrial parks (IPs) in the first half of the year, and 12,000 in the second.

    New Wing Interconnect Technology, a Foxconn subsidiary based in the Van Trung IP, will hire 27,000 workers this year, including 6,000 in the next two months.

    Fukang Technology, another Foxconn unit with a plant in the Quang Chau IP, needs 13,600 more workers this year.

    Another Apple supplier, Luxshare-ICT, plans to hire 47,300 workers at its plants in Quang Chau and Van Trung IPs.

    It will hire 200-300 people a month in February and March before increasing it to 7,000-9,000 after June or July when it expects to receive more orders.

    All these factories require workers aged 18 to 40 who have graduated high school and are in good health.

    Foxconn is even willing to take in applicants who have only completed the sixth grade.

    All the companies will pay a basic salary of VND5 million (US$203.8), social insurance contributions and other benefits, according to Nguyen Van Hue, director of the Bac Giang Province Job Center.

    They usually attract and retain workers mainly through other benefits such as housing rent and meal allowances and overtime work, which take workers’ incomes to VND8-9 million a month, he said.

    Factories simultaneously hiring en masse makes it difficult to find enough people quickly, he said.

    In contrast to the mass layoffs early last year, factories are trying to maintain their workforces this year since they have massive orders.

    “Many companies’ human resources personnel have even traveled to small villages in the northern mountains and central region to hire people, and ask existing employees to introduce relatives and friends.”

    Bac Giang has over 7,600 businesses that employ around 306,000 workers.

    Its real estate market has been thriving for the last five or six years and several industrial zones have been built or expanded.

    Business upscaling and a surge in new orders has led to soaring demand for labor here.

    Foxconn has been present in Vietnam since 2007 when it established plants in Bac Ninh and Bac Giang provinces before expanding to several other northern provinces.

    It is a critical cog in Apple’s supply chain.

  • ECS Group wins Thai VietJet cargo contract in Asia

    ECS Group wins Thai VietJet cargo contract in Asia

    Low-cost carrier Thai VietJet Air has awarded the tender of its cargo operations to ECS Group with a signed master GSSA agreement with subsidiary AVS GSA Thailand, on 01 February 2024.

    ECS Group said it aims to increase revenue and cargo volumes for the airline, which operates flights across Thailand and Asia. 

    Thai VietJet Air currently operates a fleet of 18 A320-200 and A321-200 aircraft, focusing primarily on transporting general cargo and perishables. Destinations include Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.

    “Thai VietJet Air has carved a solid cargo market share for itself on the Thai domestic market and offers an impressive international network across Asia – and all that without a freighter in its fleet,” said Monchai Jirakiertivadhana, CEO Indochina at AVS GSA.

    “AVS GSA therefore has an excellent base on which to further develop the airline’s cargo activities and improve its revenue performance,” he added.

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  • Vietnam’s agricultural exports to China expected to rise

    Vietnam’s agricultural exports to China expected to rise

    According to the Agency of Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnam expects to increase its agricultural exports to China as the neighboring country agreed earlier this year to review regulations permitting the official export of Vietnamese poultry meat.

    The agency cited statistics by the General Department of Vietnam Customs showing that Vietnam shipped abroad 22,450 tonnes of meat and meat products worth US$110.35 million last year, up 19% in volume and 30.4% in value from 2022.

    The products were delivered to 28 markets around the world, with Hong Kong, China, Belgium, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Cambodia, France, and the U.S. among the biggest importers.

    Vietnam exported 4,770 tonnes of poultry meat and edible by-products valued at $12.04 million, representing year-on-year increases of 136.1% in volume and an 214% in value.

    China, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, South Korea, and Hong Kong were the main buyers.

    At present, Vietnam ships two products of the livestock industry to China, including bird’s nests and milk, under official export according to the protocol on exporting bird’s nest signed in 2022 and another on exporting milk signed in 2019 between the two countries.

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  • Vietnamese durian and coffee farmers see unprecedented profits in 2023

    Vietnamese durian and coffee farmers see unprecedented profits in 2023

    The record prices of durian, coffee, and rice in 2023 brought significant profits to farmers in the Central Highlands and the Mekong Delta.

    Thoai, a garden owner in the Mekong Delta province of Can Tho, stated that durian farmers had never had a bumper harvest like last year.

    The price of this fruit remained high during the peak season, reaching up to VND140,000 (US$5.73) per kilogram at times. For the first time in over a decade, he earned a profit of several billion dong from selling durians.

    The high demand is continuing through 2024. In the days leading up to this year’s Lunar New Year holiday, which lasts from Feb. 8-14, many gardens in the Mekong Delta were busy harvesting off-season durians for export to China, where many people use durians as gifts for the holiday.

    Each five-kilogram durian could be sold for nearly VND1 million ($41), equivalent to about VND200,000 per kilogram.Not only in the Mekong Delta, but durian farmers in the Central Highlands also made a large profits last year due to the continuously peaking prices of this fruit.

    Cuong, a garden owner in the region’s Dak Lak province, reported earning VND120 billion after harvesting 40 hectares of durians.

    2023 was a bumper year for the key agricultural crops of Dak Lak Province, according to Vu Duc Con, deputy director of the Dak Lak Department of Agriculture & Rural Development.

    Specifically, thanks to good prices of durians, the province earned about VND12,000 billion after harvesting 200,000 tons.

    Another agricultural product that brought in huge revenue and helped farmers “change their lives” last year was coffee.

    Hoa, from the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum, said her family harvested seven tons of coffee beans in 2023.

    With a highest-ever selling price of VND76 million per ton, her family earned more than VND530 million last year. After deducting costs, she made a profit of over VND200 million, she said.

    Thoai, Cuong, and Hoa are not the only farmers who had a year with “never-seen-before profit.”

    “2023 was the brightest year for the export picture of the agricultural sector,” said Dang Phuc Nguyen, Secretary-General of the Vietnam Fruit and Vegetable Association.

    According to him, agriculture continued to affirm its position as a pillar of Vietnam’s economy, with the export value of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries exceeding US$53 billion.

    Some agricultural products set historic peaks, including fruits and vegetables exports, which surged 70% year-on-year, bringing in more than $5.6 billion, with durians, bananas, jackfruits, longans, and watermelons recording an increase of up to four times compared to the same period.

    Rice exports also increased by more than 36% in value.

    “Vietnamese agricultural products broke through in export turnover and price, even as the domestic and global economy declined,” said Nguyen.

    The high global demand for food, along with many fruits being officially exported to the vast market of China, helped Vietnamese agricultural products increase in value and quality, he said.

    China is also the largest import market for many Vietnamese agricultural products, at $11.5 billion last year, of which durians alone accounted for more than $2 billion.

    Besides durians, 13 other agricultural products have been officially exported to this market, such as bird’s nests and their products, sweet potatoes, dragon fruits, longans, rambutans, mangoes, jackfruits, and watermelons.

    Similarly, rice also brought a bumper harvest to farmers.

    In previous years, countries like Indonesia, Chile, Ghana bought Vietnamese rice in dribs and drabs, but increased their purchases several times over in 2023. Indonesia moved from the eighth- to the second-largest buyer of Vietnamese rice, after the Philippines last year.

    The Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development’s 2024 forecast suggests that Vietnamese agricultural products will continue to achieve many successes since the U.S., China, and many Middle Eastern countries favor Vietnamese agricultural products.

    The impact of El Nino is expected to reduce the global food supply, presenting an opportunity for Vietnamese agricultural products like rice, durian, and coffee.

    For instance, China continued to purchase Vietnamese durians at high prices as Vietnam is the only country with off-season fruits. For rice, seven Vietnamese enterprises won bids to supply 300,000 tons of rice, accounting for 60% of the amount of rice Indonesia wants to import in early-2024, earlier this month.

    However, the export of agricultural products also poses many challenges that require solutions from authorities.

    “Agriculture is still developing sporadically, small-scale, and spontaneously in Vietnam,” said Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development Le Minh Hoan.

    “So, authorities, associations, and businesses need to engage with farmers from the beginning to provide them with enough information, so that they can adjust production.”

    Minister Hoan also mentioned that the implementation of planting area codes has only been at a promotional level currently. The ministry will make it mandatory for farmers to comply soon.

    “Everything must meet standards and regulations to avoid the situation of spontaneous agricultural development,” he said.

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  • Vietnam’s coffee export value doubles in January

    Vietnam’s coffee export value doubles in January

    Vietnam shipped 230,000 tonnes of coffee abroad in January, earning $623 million, up 61.6% in volume and 100.3% in value year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

    In the last days of the Year of the Cat, the average coffee price in the Central Highland provinces continued to increase compared to the previous week. Coffee is being purchased at prices ranging from VND78,200 – 79,400 ($3.2-3.25) per kg in some localities. With the current upward trend, domestic coffee prices are likely to exceed VND80,000 per kg soon.

    A surge in domestic coffee prices was attributed to the fact that traders actively purchased coffee before the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday while exporters were afraid of supply shortages like last year so they tended to buy more.

    The coffee output of the 2023-2034 crop in Dak Lak province is forecast to reach 580,000 tonnes, thus the coffee export volume is estimated at 330,000 tonnes. If prices stay as high as they are now and fluctuate slightly in the near future, the province’s coffee export turnover could hit $900 million.

    Lam Dong province has about 175,700 ha of coffee and the output for 2023-2024 crop is expected to hit 535,000 tonnes.

    In 2023, Vietnam exported over 1.6 million tonnes, down 8.7% in quantity but up 4.6% in value compared to last year, reaching a record turnover of $4.24 billion.

    According to the Vietnam Coffee-Cocoa Association (Vicofa), Vietnam’s coffee production in the 2023-2024 crop will be 1.6-1.7 million tonnes, lower than 1.78 million tonnes in 2022-2023.

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  • Dollar steps up over dong

    Dollar steps up over dong

    The U.S. dollar rose against the Vietnamese dong Wednesday morning.

    Vietcombank sold the dollar at VND24,570, up 0.16% from Tuesday.

    It fell 0.40% to VND24,850 on the black market.

    The greenback has increased by 0.61% against the dong since the beginning of the year.

    Globally the dollar remained under pressure on Wednesday after retreating from a nearly three-month high against the euro in the previous session with a decline in U.S. bond yields adding to the drag.

    Analysts pointed to technical factors for the dollar’s pullback, following a two-day rally of as much as 1.4% against the euro after unexpectedly strong U.S. jobs data and more hawkish rhetoric from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell scuppered bets for an early interest rate cut.

    The U.S. dollar index – which measures the currency against six major peers, including the euro – was flat at 104.14 after Tuesday’s 0.29% slide. On Monday, it had reached its highest since Nov. 14 at 104.60.

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  • VinFast recalls 5,900 EVs for headlight issue

    VinFast recalls 5,900 EVs for headlight issue

    VinFast is recalling 5,912 VF 5 Plus electric vehicles manufactured last year to fix the issue of headlights turning off when the left turn signal is switched on.

    The company said the headlights in some VF 5 Plus cars, the smallest in its EV lineup, could turn off when the car is traveling at 50-55 kilometers per hour and the headlights are in auto mode.

    This is due to a hardware issue in the circuit board the company received from its supplier, it said.

    The supplier would replace the necessary parts for free, and the task will take around 40 minutes, it added.

    There have been no incidents due to the issue so far, but the company is recalling all vehicles produced between March and December last year.

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  • Cross-border e-commerce Vietnam’s next big thing in exports

    Cross-border e-commerce Vietnam’s next big thing in exports

    According to U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon, cross-border e-commerce is expected to be the fifth-highest value export of Vietnam by 2027, with a value of US$12 billion.

    “2023 Performance Report: Empowering Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Vietnam” published by the firm’s Amazon Global Selling Vietnam, a unit that supports sellers, said by 2027 cross-border e-commerce exports could reach $5 billion under “normal” circumstances and $12 billion in the best-case scenario if small, medium- and micro-sized businesses get support from the government.

    In the latter case, cross-border e-commerce will account for the country’s fifth biggest exports.

    Amazon Global Selling said online exports of Vietnamese goods could thrive since more and more global consumers are shifting from offline.

    Last year Vietnam’s exports were worth nearly $356 billion, according to the General Statistics Office.

    The top exports items, all exceeding $20 billion, are electronics – computers, phones and components, machinery – equipment, textiles, and agriculture – forestry – fisheries.

    Vietnamese retailers sold over 17 million products on Amazon last year, up 50% from 2022, according to the e-commerce platform.

    The number of sellers increased by 40% and those with revenues exceeding $100,000 increased by 70%.

    The top five product categories were household appliances, kitchen tools, health-personal care, clothing, and beauty products.

    These reflect Vietnam’s long experience in manufacturing and exporting products such as furniture, home decor and apparel.

    “The growth of emerging sectors such as health and personal care and beauty products contributes to the increasing diversity of Vietnam’s online exports,” the report said.

    According to a study by the technology advisory firm Access Partnership, the main export markets were Southeast Asia and China.

    In the next five years the U.S. and Europe are likely be priority markets as consumers in those regions are growing increasingly fond of Vietnamese goods on online platforms, the study said.

    “E-commerce is one of the next major trends for businesses who are looking to expand globally,” Gijae Seong, head of Amazon Global Selling Vietnam, said.

    The challenge for these businesses is whether they could quickly leverage this trend, grasp global consumer demand and build long-term development plans, he said.

    Access Partnership said Vietnamese businesses face challenges in online transactions like high customs duties and post-clearance costs.

    It said businesses need more legal and financial support to capitalize on the opportunities for e-commerce exports.

    So measures like establishing cross-border e-commerce zones and providing grants for exports and e-commerce businesses would play a crucial role, it added.

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  • Vietnam wins bid to export 300,000 tons of rice to Indonesia

    Vietnam wins bid to export 300,000 tons of rice to Indonesia

    Seven Vietnamese firms have won a bid to export 300,000 tons of rice to Indonesia, or more than half the volume that country’s plans to import in January.

    Their lowest quote was US$648 per ton, including transportation costs.

    Earlier this year Indonesia said it wanted to import 500,000 tons of rice in January to increase its food reserves.

    Last year it imported more than one million tons of Vietnamese rice, making it the second biggest customer.

    According to the Vietnam Food Association and the Thai Rice Exporters Association, the current export prices of standard 5% broken rice are $656 per ton in Thailand, $642 in Vietnam and $638 in Pakistan.

    Last year Vietnam exported eight million tons of rice to rank third in the world after India and Thailand.

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  • Vietcombank continues to achieve record profits

    Vietcombank continues to achieve record profits

    State-owned lender Vietcombank reported record pre-tax profits of VND41.2 trillion (US$1.68 billion) for 2023.

    Its previous highest was VND37.4 trillion a year earlier.

    It made the bank the most profitable in the industry by a margin of tens of trillions of dong.

    Profits before credit risk provisioning were worth VND45.8 trillion, a 2.2% decline.

    But halving the provisioning to VND4.5 trillion meant the lender maintained profit growth.

    Vietcombank’s bad debts ratio (groups three to five) increased from 0.68% at the beginning of the year to 1% by the end, while loans that require attention (group two debts) surged by 40% to over VND5.55 trillion.