Wood product exports soar in month

Wood products exports in February totalled US$200 million, bringing the exports value in the first two months of the year to $548 million – a surge of 17.6 per cent over the same period last year – the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announced.

Exports to key markets in the US, Japan, mainland China and South Korea, which together account for 63.7 per cent of wood products export value, increased significantly, with exports to South Korea nearly tripling.

The US remained the leading market for Vietnamese wood products, buying up $118 million worth, followed by the EU ($90.2 million), Japan ($49.1 million) and China ($32 million).

Exports of wood products could rise by another 30 per cent and exceed $4 billion this year thanks to rising global demand, said Viet Nam Wood and Forest Products Association vice chairman Nguyen Ton Quyen.

However, the association was advising exporters to increase their focus on the domestic market to lower the risk of rising raw material prices.

Viet Nam ranked fourth among Southeast Asian wood products exporters, but only 20 per cent of wood products consumed in the country werre produced by domestic enterprises, with the remaining 80 per cent imported from mainland China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Taiwan, according to the Handicraft and Wood Products Association of HCM City.

“Vietnamese enterprises should be more familiar with domestic consumer tastes,” said association chairman Nguyen Chien Thang. “If there were a focus on high- to average-income segments, they could definitely dominate the domestic market, instead of wrestling over foreign markets.” — VNS

Tags: Vietnam Wood product exports