According to a Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) report, many businesses have signed weighty export contracts to mid 2011.

Southern Dong Nai-based Dong Tien Joint Stock Company (Dovitec) clinched export contracts up to November 2011 and its deputy director Nguyen Van Hoang said the company would be more prudent in selecting export orders due to banks’ high lending rates to mitigate risks.

“With more export contracts, we have wider choice in both product structure and price terms to raise the products’ added value,” Hoang said.

In 2010, Dovitec raked in more than VND300 billion ($15 million) in export revenue, a 30 per cent rise against 2009 and up 15 per cent over the year’s projection.

Similarly, northern Hung Yen-based Tien Hung Joint Stock Company had inked export contracts for the first half of 2011.

“The company has signed orders to produce trousers, shorts and jackets for export to the US and the EU,” said general director Cao Manh Cuong, adding that the company expected a jump of 15-20 per cent in 2011’s export value against 2010 figure of over $9 million which was 20 per cent more than 2009’s.

Like Dovitec and Tien Hung garment companies, southern Dong Nai Garment Joint Stock Company (Donagamex) had signed export contracts to mid 2011.

Its general director Bui The Kich said: “Businesses will be in a dilemma if the cost of raw materials augmented to a higher level than it was at the time the export contracts were signed unless they reach specific contract terms with importers.”

Aware of the situation, from late 2010 textile and garment companies proposed foreign importers share risks and export contracts would be upwardly revised on the back of soaring raw material costs.

Vietnam’s textile and garment sector set a $12.5 billion export value target for 2011, 15-17 per cent higher than 2010. Industry specialists viewed the target as reasonable but also warned that higher exports would lead to rising imports as the sector was still dependent on imported raw materials.

Ministry of Industry and Trade figures showed that $8.9 billion was poured into importing raw garment materials and accessories in 2010 against $11 billion in the sector’s export value.