Shrimp processing for exports. (Photo: VNA)

Exports were worth 17.9 billion USD, up 15.6 percent year-on-year, while imports totalled 13.9 billion USD, down 2.3 percent.

Viet Nam enjoyed a trade surplus of nearly 4 billion USD, 3.2 times higher than a year earlier, the ministry reported.

Aquatic exports saw the highest growth during the period, surging 43.7 percent to reach 3.6 billion USD. Shipments of key agricultural and forestry products exceeded 7.4 billion USD and 5.9 billion USD, up 10.5 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, husbandry products plummeted 19 percent year-on-year to 105.4 million USD.

Five export items with revenue exceeding 1 billion USD included coffee, rice, fruits and vegetables, shrimp and timber products. Notably, exports of coffee and shrimp stood at 1.7 billion USD and 1.3 billion USD, a year-on-year surge of 59.4 percent and 38.6 percent, respectively. The export value of tra fish went up 89.6 percent to 894 million USD.

The US remained Viet Nam’s largest importer with nearly 4.9 billion USD, accounting for 27.3 percent of the market share. Some 68.2 percent of Viet Nam’s exports to the US were wood and timber products.

China came second with over 3.2 billion USD, representing 18.1 percent of total shipments.