In October, Vietnamese timber exports earned 528 million USD, bringing total timber exports in the first 10 months to 4.98 billion USD, a 12.8-percent year-on-year increase.

A report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said timber exports to three leading markets in the first 10 months of the year continued to increase.

Export turnover from the US market increased by 14.35 percent and from the Japanese market, by 22.03 percent. However, export turnover from the Chinese market fell by 10.19 percent.

The three markets are the leading importers of Vietnamese timber this year, providing 66.35 percent of the value of the country's total timber exports.

Chairman of the Binh Duong Wood Processing Association, Huynh Quang Thanh, said the rehabilitation of the world economy had opened new prospects for timber processing enterprises.

In recent years, enterprises had produced higher quality products that met the requirements of choosy markets of Europe, the United States and Japan.

The markets have showed interest in Vietnamese wood products because of the diverse designs they produced and sophisticated manufacturing.

Meanwhile, the nation's imports in October reached 177 million USD, bringing total imports in the first 10 months of the year to 1.9 billion USD, a 55.2-percent year-on-year increase.

Timber imports from Laos accounted for 28.4 percent of Vietnam's market share. This was followed by Cambodia with 12.7 percent, the US with 10.8 percent and China with 9.9 percent.

It is expected that Vietnamese wood exports will reach 6.3 billion USD to 6.5 billion USD by the end of this year.-VNA