Furniture export may exceed $4b in 2011

Vietnam’s furniture export turnover is expected to fetch $4.1-$4.2 billion in next year, according to the Vietnam Timber and Forestry Product Association (Vietforest).

Nguyen Ton Quyen, Vietforest’s vice chair, said that in 2010, Vietnam’s wooden product export markets have gained significant recovery against 2009 and the country’s furniture export turnover will be likely to exceed the target of $3 billion.

Vietnam’s wooden product export to the US market has grown up to 15 percent and the growth is 8 percent to the EU market.

This year, due to the purchasing power increased strongly, causing the depletion of goods. Importers are forced to increase the volume of imports. Thus, Vietnam’s orders from the US market rose by 3-7 percent year-on-year.

This year in the US market, consumers also had a change in tastes. Previous demand usually focused on outdoor furniture, but now they orient to furniture. Furthermore, instead of preferring the high-ranking furniture, they tend to switch to other more popular commodities. And those products are very suitable to production conditions in Vietnam.

These things have contributed to the country’s furniture exports to $3.2 – $3.3 billion, higher than the target of $3 billion set earlier this year” Quyen said after making the above analysis.

In addition, a number of Vietnam’s furniture exporters also have accessed new potential markets such as India, Russia, and Middle East.

According to Vietforest, in 2011, the demands on Vietnamese wooden products will be very large whereby the country’s furniture export turnover may reach up to $4.1-$4.2 billion, increasing by 30 percent over 2010.

Quyen said that in coming years, Vietnam’s furniture export growth must be 35 percent/year to reach turnover target of $7 billion by 2020. – TBKTVN