HCMC – The inventory-to-sales ratio in the processing and manufacturing industry surged to 87.5% in 2023, up from 78.1% in the previous year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The ministry’s data showed a persistent low industrial consumption index, indicating widespread challenges in the sector. Despite recent signs of improvement, an early 2023 slump in export orders led to an overall decline in demand for imported raw materials and production equipment throughout the year.
As a result, the total import turnover for 2023 decreased by 8.9% compared to the previous year, amounting to US$327.5 billion. The domestic economic sector contributed US$117.29 billion to this total, down 7.2% year-on-year. The import bill of the foreign-invested sector also fell by 9.8% from 2022 to US$210.21 billion.
Economist Dinh Trong Thinh attributed the increase in inventory to production-consumption misalignment. He pointed out that challenges in both manufacturing and exports resulted in a significant drop in the export volume of key products and a corresponding decline in essential markets.
The industrial processed goods exports declined by 5.5% from the previous year, with five out of seven key export items valued at over US$10 billion each experiencing declines within the industrial processing sector.
The ministry also reported an 8.4% reduction in the overall import turnover for goods crucial to year-end production, with essential components seeing double-digit contractions, including textiles (-11.1%), steel (-11.6%), plastic raw materials (-21.2%), and a substantial 58.3% decline in phone and component imports.
A notable trend in 2023 was a decrease in imports of controlled goods, with an 18% reduction totaling US$18.4 billion. This decline extended across several sub-groups, encompassing fruits, vegetables, confectionery, cereal-based products, scrap iron and steel, automobiles, gems, and metal products.
