Timber industry pushes exports

If the timber industry’s plan to earn a total of US$7 billion from exports by 2020 is to succeed, it must focus strongly on the development of domestic forests.

Domestic timber product exporters now mainly depend on imported timber as domestic supplies meet only 20 per cent of demand. This dependence has created a major problem as world timber prices keep rising sharply. Chairman of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association (HAWA) Nguyen Chien Thang said last year, for example, the price of imported timber surged 25-30 per cent over the previous year.

General director of Minh Phat 2 Company Dien Quang Hiep said that wood from rubber trees, a main source of material for his company, last year increased by 50-60 per cent.

Deputy director of the Department of Processing and Trade for Agro-Forestry-Fisheries Products and Salt Dam Ngoc Nam said Viet Nam had more than 13 million hectares of forest, 8.6 million of which were for commercial purposes.

The Forest Science Institute of Viet Nam has drafted a development project for domestic timber to meet 50 per cent of demand by 2015 and 80 per cent by 2020.

Vo Truong Thanh, general director of the Truong Thanh Wood Joint Stock Company, said his company would grow 100,000ha of forest during the next 10 years.

This would enable it to provide 500,000 to 1 million cubic metres of timber yearly from 2016, which would meet roughly 20-30 per cent of demand. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam Timber industry