The volume, excluding transited goods not unloaded at seaports, included 61.95 million tonnes of exports (up by 2 per cent), 67.49 million tonnes of imports (down by 9 per cent) and 110.99 million tonnes of domestic goods (up by 10 per cent), it recently said.

Container throughput also increased by 2 per cent to over 8.3 million TEUs during the period.

The administration said 2 per cent is the slowest growth in recent years though Vietnam has entered the post-pandemic new normal.

Seaports in many localities have recorded a sharp decline in volume. At Binh Thuan, it was down by 28 per cent from a year earlier, at Can Tho, it was 25 per cent, and at Kien Giang, it was 12 per cent.

Major ports also witnessed drops from 0.5 per cent to 4 per cent: Hai Phong was down by 0.5 per cent, Ho Chi Minh City by 2.8 per cent and Vung Tau by 4 per cent.

The growth slowdown has been attributed to different factors, including lack of complete recovery of production and export and import activities by domestic enterprises.

Besides, China’s zero-COVID policy has also affected firms doing business with Vietnam’s largest export and import market.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)