THE PATTERN OF NORTH VIETNAM'S SEABORNE FOREIGN TRADE WITH COUNTRIES OF THE FREE WORLD, 1964

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T01003A002200260001-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 18
• Document Creation Date: November 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 29, 1999
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: April 1, 1965
• Content Type: BRIEF

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INTELLIGENCE BRIEF
CIA/RR C1, 6~-26
April 1965
CUpy Nr~.
THE PATTERN OF NORTH VIETNAM'S SEAF30RNE FOREIGI~T TRADE
WITH COUNTRIES OF THE FREE WORLD, 1964
DIRECTORATE OF INTELLIGENCE
Office of Research and Reports
SECRET
downgrading and
declossificofion
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This Document contains information affecting the Na-
tional Defense of the United States, within. the mean-
ing of Title 18, Sections 793 and 794, of the U.S. Code, as
amended. Its transmission or revelation of its contents
to or receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited
by law. The reproduction of this form is prohibited.
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THE PAT TERN OF NORTH VIETNAM'S SEABORNE FOREIGN TRADE
WITH COUNTRIES OF THE FREE WORLD, 1964.=
During 1964 the seaborne foreign trade of North Vietnam totaled a
minimum of 2u 2 million metric tons, of which 1. 6 million tons were ex-
port cargoes and 638, 000 tons were import cargoes. These seaborne
shipments account for the overwhelming proportion of the volume of
North Vietnam's foreign trade. A breakdown of North Vietnamese sea-
borne imports and exports by major commodity and flag of carriage is
shown in Tables 1 and 2. These estimates are based on reasonably firm
but incomplete data on the cargoes moving in and out of North Vietnam.
The incompleteness of the data is particularly acute in regard to the car-
goes carried in and out. of North Vietnam on Chinese Communist-flag
shipping,
During 1964, at least 580 flag vessels involving some 2. 6 million
gross register tons (GRT) of shipping called at ports of North Vietnam.
Ships flying Free World flags accounted for about 60 percent of the ship-
ping tonnage and about '~0 percent of the ship arrivals in 1964. Free
World vessels accounted for 45 percent of the import cargoes and 85 per-
cent of the export cargoes moved by -sea during the year. The smaller
share of import cargoes reflects North Vietnam's great reliance on Bloc
countries for most of its imports. One result is that about three-fourths
of the Free World ships calling at North Vietnamese ports arrive either
in ballast or with negligible cargoes.
1. Pattern of Free World Shipping
Virtually all of the Free World ships calling at North Vietnamese
ports in 1964 were engaged in tramp operations. These vessels were
almost exclusively dry cargo ships, ranging in size from 1, 260 to
14, 000 GRT. Their average size was just over 4, 000 GRT. British-
flag vessels accounted for 30 percent of the arrivals in 1964 and were
~= The estimates in this publication represent upward revisions of those
published in CIA/RR CB 65-20, Merchant Shipping to North Vietnam in
1964, March 1965, SECRET/NO FOREIGN DISSEM. The analysis covers
only the physical volume of North Vietnamese seaborne foreign trade.
Seaborne trade moving on Chinese-flag shipping, however, and foreign
trade moving by land transportation have not been included, The findings
based on commodity movements and trading partners, therefore, will
differ somewhat from those based on analysis of official trade statistics
in value termsF
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almost all under long-term time charter to either North Vietnam or Com-
munist China. These vessels, averaging 3, 460 GRT, are rather con-
tinuously employed in a shuttle service between Haiphong and Hong Kong
or between Haiphong and Chinese ports. British-flag shipping under
Japanese charter played a significant role in the transport of coal from
North Vietnam to Japan, accounting for 30 percent of the total transported
to Japan in 1964.
Japanese-flag shipping, which accounted for 13 percent of total ar-
rivals in 1964, averaged 3, 340 GRT. With but few exceptions, Japanese-
flag ships were engaged exclusively in the coal trade between North Viet-
nam and Japan.
The Norwegian flag, which ranked third in Free World shipping to
North Vietnam in 1964, accounted for 7 percent of total arrivals. These
ships, averaging only 2, 950 GRT, were under long-term charter to North
Vietnam, Communist China, or the USSR. The Norwegian ships under
charter to North Vietnam were used principally for trade with Cambodia
and Malaysia.
Ships of other Free World flags participating in the North Vietnamese
trade generally were larger vessels that were engaged in the long-term
movement of bulk cargoes from North Vietnam to Western Europe, Soviet
Bloc countries, and Cuba. Most of these ships, ranging from 6, 000 to
7, 000 GRT, flew the flags of Greece, Lebanon, Liberia, and Panama but
were under charter to Bloc c;ountries.
2. Nature and Volume of Exports to Free World Countries
During 1964, identifiable exports by sea from North Vietnam reached
1. 6 million tons. A total of 914, 000 tons, or 60 percent of identified sea-
borne exports, moved to countries of the Free World, principally to trad-
ing partners in Southeast Asia and to Japan (see Tables 2 and 3).
The exports of North Vietnam consisted almost entirely of coal,
cement, pig iron, and apatite. The export of anthracite coal from
Cam Pha and Hon Gay dominated North Vietnam's export trade in 1964
and accounted for 60 pe-r cent of the total volume of seaborne exports.
About 60 percent -- 4209 000 tons -- of the total amount of coal exported
to the countries of the Free World went to Japan. The identified export
of coal to Japan in 1964 was about 20 percent lower than the average
annual export over the past few years.
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Other North Vietnamese bulk exports to Japan in 1964 included an
estimated 44, 000 tons of pig iron and about 14, 000 tons of apatite ore,
Exports of miscellaneous cargoes to Japan in 1964 totaled 6, 600 tons,
or 35 percent of total exports of miscellaneous cargoes shipped to the
Free World. Although the commodities composing this classification
cannot be identified specificall e~str ey fishingeSand handicraft products,
principally of agricultural, for y,
The port of Hong Kong ranked second as the destination of North
Vietnamese exports in 1964. The principal export to Hong Kong was
cement, which at a volume of 44, 000 tons amounted to one-third of the
total exports of cement to countries of 0 etons of nthrac teecoal, aaboug
exports to Hong Kong consisted of 10, 6
8, 000 tons of rice, 00 tons of livestock and animal productsneous car-
goes, including 4, 6
Cambodia and Malaysia accounted for the remainder of North Viet-
nam's exports to countries in Soutedafor roughly 95 percent ofeNorth Viet-
export was cement, which accoun
namese exports to these countries.
Most of the balance of North Vietnam's export trade with countries
of the Free World involved a movement of anthracite coal to consumers
in Western Europe, Mor000 tons0of thee247, 0 Ol tons export dlto Western
which accounted for 100,
Europe in 1964. The other major importers o41 ?000 tons)st and It type
were the Netherlands (64, 000 tons), Belgium
(31, 000 tons).
3. Seaborne Imports from the Free World
Identified seaborne imports by N?r0 tonstnsee Table 4) ntronly 20 e
Free World in 1964 amounted to 175, 00
percent of the level of its exports to countries of the Free World. About
80 percent of these imports consisted of grains, foodstuffs, and bulk
commodities. The principal identified imports of foodstuffs included about
38, 000 tons of flour from France, 45, 000 tons of corn from Thailand and
Cambodia, 14, 000 tons of grain from Argentina, and 5, 500 tons of rice
from Cambodia. The other major bulk commodity imports included an
estimated 37, 000 tons of fertilizers, principally from Italy.
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At least 16, 000 tans of general cargo were imported by North Vietnam
in 1964. More than 75 percent of these imports came from Japan and
consisted of medicines, textiles, chemicals, industrial equipment, and
spare parts. In addition, 15, 000 tons of timber were imported from
Cambodia. The volume of ii~nports of equipment and general cargo from
We-stern Europe could not be estimated, because it was picked up at way
ports by Polish vessels providing a liner service to North Vietnam.
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Project No.
Report Series CIA/RR CB 65-26
~'itle _The Pattern of North Vietnam's Seaborne Foreign Trade with
Countries of the Free World, 1964 (SECRET/NO FOREIGN DISSEM ___
Responsible Analyst and Branch I/IS
RECOMMENDED DISTRIBUTION TO STATE POSTS
Berlin, Germany
Bucharest, Romania
Budapest, Hungary
Moscow, USSR
Prague, Czechoslovakia
Sofia, Bulgaria
Warsaw, Poland
Europe
Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Bern, Switzerland
Bonn, Germany
Brussels, Belgium
Copenhagen, Denmark
~'~ux~,xx
Geneva, Switzerland
Helsinki, Finland
The Hague, Netherlands
Lisbon, Portugal
London, England
Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Madrid, Spain
Oslo, Norway
Paris, France
Rome, Italy
Stockholm, Sweden
Vienna, Austria
Bangkok, Thailand
~ akar. ta, Indonesia
~ong Kong
Rangoon, Burma
Kuala Lumpur, Malaya
~aigon, Vietnam
Seoul, Korea
Singapore, British Malaya
Taipei, Formosa
Tokyo, Japan
Vientiane, Laos
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Colombo, Ceylon
Near East & South Asia
Turkey
Athens, Greene
Cairo, Egypt
~3amascus, Syria
Kabul, Afghanistan
Karachi, Pakistan
New Delhi., India
Nicosia, Cyprus
Tehran, Iran
Baghdad, Iraq
Tel .Aviv, Israel
Beirut, Lebanon
Amman, Jordon
Jidda, Saudi Arabia
wellington, New Zealand Ottawa, Canada
lvlanila, Philippine s
~/Canberra, Australia
lbourr
/M
~,
e
~~prOVe~FOr Release 20001Q411~~~.,C,~~~~3DP.,
do~a;e;radln and
~'~:1~sifi~aftaR
Mexico
Guatemala
Panama
Brazillia, Brazil
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Bogota, Colombia
Santiago, Chile
La Paz, Bolivia
Montevideo, Uruguay
Caracas, Venezuela
Africa
Yaounde, Cameroun
Leopoldville, Congo
Addis Ababa, Ethopia
Accra, Ghana
Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Nairobi, Kenya
Monrovia, .Liberia
Tripoli., Libya
Rabat, Morocco
Lagos, Nigeria
Mogadiscio, Somal
Khartoum, Sudan
Tunis, Tunisia
Pretoria, South Africa.
Algiers, Algeria
Cotonou, Dahomey
Dakar, Senegal
Bamako, Ma.1i
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