Businesses are striving to find orders in the context of overall difficulties. Photo: N. Thanh.

In Binh Duong province, according to the assessment of the Provincial Department of Industry and Trade in the first quarter of 2023, both the import and export turnover decreased compared to the same period last year. This reflects the difficulties of businesses due to a lack of export orders, leading to a decrease in the import of raw materials compared to the previous year.

Industry associations have reported that from the third and fourth quarters of 2022 to now, the signing of new export orders for key items of Binh Duong province such as wood, leather shoes, textiles, and ceramics has encountered difficulties due to the global inflationary situation, high bank interest rates, and low consumption demand in the main export markets.

Export orders for key items have all decreased by 20-50% compared to the same period last year, leading to a decrease in the export turnover of key items. The decline in global demand is a major challenge and difficulty for Vietnam's exports in general and Binh Duong province's exports.

Similarly, in Binh Dinh province, the reason for the export turnover not meeting the plan is due to the contraction of some export markets, many businesses have not found new orders, and consumption demand has decreased, leading to a decrease in the value of orders; the conflict situation in Ukraine has affected the economy of some countries.

Furthermore, according to local assessments, the prices of raw materials continue to increase, inflation is high in the US, UK, and EU; supply chain disruptions, high inventory in other countries, and the tightening of spending by people in those countries in recent times have also affected the consumption of export products of the province. China's opening of its economy after Covid-19 control measures has also made Vietnamese goods face more competition in export markets.

The situation in Ben Tre province is not optimistic either. Currently, most of the province's major export enterprises (coconut, aquatic products, textiles, leather shoes, bags, electronics) have not received large orders for the whole year or have reduced orders; foreign customers proposed very low purchase prices. Enterprises are having difficulties in purchasing raw materials for production, while the inventory of large importers in the two major markets, Europe and America, is still high.

Lack of orders is a common situation for most businesses nowadays. According to information from the Department of Industry and Trade of Phu Yen province, manufacturing enterprises, especially those participating in exports, are facing many difficulties due to the lack of orders. In the wood industry, production in the first quarter of 2023 decreased compared to the same period last year. The reason is due to the global economic recession, slow growth, especially in Europe, America, and Japan, the main export markets of wood industry businesses.

Normally, in March of each year, enterprises have received orders to produce for the next six months and receive expected order information until the end of the year to be proactive in preparing wood material sources. However, currently, enterprises only receive orders to produce for the next 1-2 months; in addition, input material costs are high, especially transportation costs.

For the textile industry, production in the first quarter also decreased by 3.9% compared to the same period last year. Currently, the number of orders for 2023 of enterprises is very low, and they cannot even exploit new orders due to high inflation in the US, UK, and EU, which are the main markets for the textile industry. The world economic situation's difficulties have directly affected the production and export activities of domestic enterprises.

In the cashew processing industry, currently, some enterprises have temporarily stopped operating, while others produce cautiously or switch to outsourcing to retain their workforce.