The manufacturing industry continued to decline. Photo: Thu Diu

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in the first four months of 2023, IIP is estimated to decrease by 1.8% compared to the same period last year (in the same period in 2022, it increased by 7.8%). As a result, the processing and manufacturing industry, which acts as a driving force for economic growth, decreased by 2.1% (in the same period in 2022, it increased by 8.5%), reducing 1.5 percentage points in the overall growth rate; electricity production and distribution increased by 0.5% (in the same period in 2022, it increased by 7%), contributed 0.1 percentage points; water supply industry, management and treatment of waste and wastewater increased by 5.5% (in the same period in 2022, it increased by 1.7%), contributed 0.1 percentage points; the mining industry decreased by 2.8% (in the same period in 2022, it increased by 4.1%), reducing 0.5 percentage points.

Notably, some key industrial products in the first four months of 2023 decreased compared to the same period last year: automobiles decreased by 19.3%; bar steel, angle steel down 15.1%; mobile phones down 13%; motorbikes down 12.3%; urea fertilizer decreased by 12.2%; fabrics made from natural fibres decreased by 11.1%; casual wear down 10.4%; mobile phone components down 10.1%; cement down 4.8%; rolled steel down 4.5%; exploited crude oil decreased by 4%; liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) decreased by 3.7%.

Besides, some products increased compared to the same period last year: diameter increased by 23.2%; gasoline increased by 15.1%; fabrics made from artificial fibres increased by 12.2%; NPK compound fertilizer increased by 10.4%; cigarettes increased by 7.2%; chemical paint increased by 6.1%.

For the group of processed industrial products, export turnover continued to decline sharply, estimated at US $91.16 billion, down 14.1% over the same period last year. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, this decline is due to the influence of the global economic slowdown, the decline in aggregate demand, and the sharp decrease in the demand of major export markets.

Most of the export turnover of products in the group decreased compared to the same period last year. In, phones and components have the largest export value, estimated at US $17.4 billion, accounting for 16% of total export turnover, down 17.3% over the same period last year; computers, electronic products and components were estimated at US $16 billion, down 8.9%; machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts was estimated at US $13 billion, down 5.9%; textiles and garments were estimated at US $ 9.6 billion, down 19.3%; footwear of all kinds was estimated at USD 6.13 billion, down 16.3%; wood and wood products reached US $ 3.86 billion, down 31.3%; Iron and steel of all kinds reached US $ 2.38 billion, down 27.9%.

There were only a few items with an increase in export turnover, such as paper and paper products increased by 9%; Means of transport and spare parts increased by 12.8%.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the cause of the decline in industrial production and import-export activities is that major economies that are Vietnam's export partners, such as the United States and the EU, reduce spending on purchasing conventional and luxurious products, caused the volume of orders to decrease.

While domestic industrial production is mainly export-oriented, domestic production output far exceeds the demand of the domestic market, especially for industries such as textiles and garments, leather - shoes, and electronics only supply 10% of the output for domestic demand; the remaining 90% is for export.

In addition to the decrease in volume, over the same period, the export prices of many agricultural products (cashew kernels, coffee, pepper, rubber) decreased; Export prices of crude oil, petroleum products, ores, fertilizers, iron and steel also fell, affecting the growth rate of production value and commodity exports in general.

Moreover, the reopening of China also creates much competitive pressure on Vietnam's exports of the same type. Meanwhile, our businesses are facing many difficulties due to decreasing foreign orders, low purchasing power in the domestic market, high input costs, and not easy access to credit.