VIETNAM-ECONOMY/TRADE

Vietnam estimates Jan-April trade surplus at $800 mln

HANOI, April 24 (Reuters) - Vietnam estimated on Friday its trade surplus in the first four months of the year halved to $800 million from $1.65 billion in the first quarter.

Exports of precious metals and gem stones, a category that consists mainly of gold and which has contributed to Vietnam's trade surplus in the first quarter, edged up to a record $2.54 billion in the four-month period.

The government's General Statistics Office said revenues from crude oil exports, a key cash earner, fell 44.7 percent from the same period last year to $1.98 billion.

Most main import items suffered from significant falls following declines in the first quarter, with oil products dropping 57.3 percent and steel imports down 67.7 percent in value, the report said. (Reporting by Ho Binh Minh; Editing by John Ruwitch and Alan Raybould)