Vietnam’s garment and apparels export turnover was estimated to reach US$680 million in June, according to the Vietnam Garment and Apparels Association.

The figure allowed the sector to reach total export revenues for the first half of the year of $3.4 billion, meeting only 47 per cent of its yearly plan, despite a year-on-year rise of 25.9 per cent.

The below forecast export value figure was blamed on the large proportion of outsourcing taking place in the garment sector. As a result, raw materials such as fabric, cotton and fibres accounted for 73.2 per cent or $2.51 billion of the entire value.

Compounding matters were the large number of apparels contracts with US firms that were cancelled due to the US Governmenta(tm)s application of a monitoring mechanism on Vietnamese garments.