January: The overall industrial production index increased by 3%.

The General Statistics Office has just announced the socio-economic situation for January 2014; accordingly, the industrial production index is estimated to have increased only slightly, at 3% compared to the same period last year.

Representatives from the General Statistics Office explained that the reason for the low growth rate in the industrial production index was due to a sharp decline in the mining sector, with a decrease of 9.6% (including a 24.7% decrease in coal mining, a 5% decrease in crude oil extraction, and a 7.7% decrease in natural gas extraction), as well as the impact of several holidays before the Lunar New Year, while in 2013 the Lunar New Year holiday fell in February.

Reportedly, in January, the manufacturing sector maintained a relatively high growth rate of 6.6% compared to the same period in 2013, contributing 4.6 percentage points to the overall growth. The electricity production and distribution sector increased by 4.4%, contributing 0.2 percentage points. The water supply and wastewater and waste treatment sector increased by 9%, contributing 0.1 percentage points. However, the mining sector experienced a sharp decline, significantly impacting the overall growth by 2.1 percentage points.

In addition, several industries saw high production indices in the month compared to the same period last year, including textiles (up 26.9%), manufacturing of prefabricated metal products (excluding machinery and equipment) (up 23.8%), and manufacturing of electronic, computer and optical products (up 19.3%).

In addition, some industries experienced sharp declines, including electrical equipment manufacturing (down 13.4%) and hard coal and lignite mining (down 24.7%).

According to the General Statistics Office, the industrial production index for the month showed fluctuations in localities, with Da Nang increasing by 9.7%, Binh Duong by 9.3%, and Hai Phong by 7.4%. The two economic powerhouses saw modest increases: Hanoi by 2.4% and Ho Chi Minh City by 1.1%.

Notably, some localities in the dynamic economic region are experiencing a decline; including Bac Ninh with a 20.5% decrease, Quang Ninh with an 18% decrease, and Can Tho with a 10% decrease.

The report also indicated that the consumption index for the entire manufacturing industry in December 2013 increased by 2.3% compared to the previous month and by 11.2% compared to the same period last year. For the whole year of 2013, the consumption index for the manufacturing industry increased by 10.1% compared to 2012.

Regarding inventory levels, as of January 1, 2014, the inventory index for the entire manufacturing industry increased by 9.7% compared to the same period in 2013; among which, several sectors experienced significantly higher increases than the overall average, including the production of pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and medicinal materials (up 117.5%), the production of leather and related products (up 84%), and metal production (up 82.5%).

Currently, the foreign investment sector is attracting a large number of manufacturing workers. Specifically, the employment index in industrial enterprises as of January 1, 2014 increased by 4.3% compared to the same period last year; of which the state-owned enterprise sector decreased by 1%, the non-state enterprise sector increased by 3.6%, and enterprises with foreign direct investment increased by 6.8%.

According to Baocongthuong.