According to Phan Anh Tuan, Director of Tan Cang Long Binh ICD Joint Stock Company, current international developments are having an immediate impact on enterprises’ production and business activities. For enterprises with large reserves of raw materials and products, the impact will come more slowly.

According to a survey by Dong Nai Statistics, among the main factors affecting enterprises’ production and business activities, 44.9% said low domestic market demand was the biggest factor affecting production and business operations; 41.5% cited low international market demand; 40.2% pointed to high competition among domestic goods; and 22.8% cited high competition from imported goods. Other factors include shortages of raw materials, fuel and materials; difficulties in recruiting workers; financial challenges; and State legal policies.

Similarly, the Vietnam Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) report recently released by S&P Global also showed that Vietnam’s manufacturing PMI fell to 50.5 points in April 2026, while new orders continued to decline, and input costs and output prices rose at the sharpest pace since April 2011. A positive factor is that production output continued to maintain growth, reflecting the implementation of existing projects and the resilience of underlying demand.

Responding to challenges

Enterprises reported that the sharp rise in fuel prices in April pushed input costs up at the fastest pace in 15 years. In this context, enterprises consider proactively stockpiling raw materials and inputs for production to be their top priority. This also explains why Vietnam’s imports increased sharply and why the country recorded a trade deficit in the first months of 2026.

When assessing the trade balance in the first quarter of 2026, the Statistics Office stated that the current trade deficit is not necessarily an unusual or worrying sign, but rather a short-term development linked to the production cycle as well as global price fluctuations. The increase in import demand mainly stems from enterprises stepping up purchases of machinery and input materials, while also proactively stockpiling goods to guard against risks of supply chain disruptions and energy price volatility.

For enterprises, this period requires genuine flexibility in production and business operations, especially in negotiations and cooperation with partners and customers in a transparent manner to avoid risks. “We maintain regular contact with our partners and apply an adjustment range of around 10%. If prices rise or fall by 10%, we agree with our partners to adjust the prices of product and service supply, thereby limiting risks,” shared Phan Dinh Canh, Director of Hoa Canh Production, Trading and Service Co., Ltd. in Phuoc Thai Commune.

Experts say cost pressure is not caused by a single factor, but by a combination of multiple reasons, including high bank deposit interest rates, rising compliance costs for household businesses, geopolitical instability, and disruptions to global supply chains, all of which have driven up input production costs across the board.

On the Goverment side, proactively implementing management solutions and stabilizing the market is very important, especially for essential goods. At the meeting of the Government’s Price Management Steering Committee on April 23, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Van Thang noted that fluctuations in the international situation are putting significant pressure on domestic price levels.

Therefore, the Government requested ministries and sectors to carefully assess factors undergoing major fluctuations, such as fuel prices, construction material prices and several other elements. They were also asked to analyze supply-demand developments and prices of essential goods in order to manage them closely and prevent policy profiteering, particularly in sectors directly affected by fuel costs, such as transport, logistics, construction materials, and food and foodstuffs.

In the immediate term, it is necessary to ensure the balance of supply and demand, especially for essential commodity groups such as petroleum, electricity, food, foodstuffs and input materials for production; and to regulate the supply of goods serving domestic demand among regions and localities, as well as export demand, in order to stabilize market prices.

Vương Thế

 Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/