The US is the most important export market for Vietnam’s wood products. Thus, the policies of the upcoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump are expected to present both opportunities and challenges for Vietnam’s wood industry.
The wood sector expects to earn 15.5-16 billion USD from exports this year, given a nearly 21% growth rate to over 13 billion USD in the first 10 months.
The northern province of Bac Giang is set to develop more large-timber forest with a view to helping improve the local forestry sector’s production value, said Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Le O Pich.
The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has launched an anti-circumvention and anti-subsidy investigation into wooden cabinets imported from Vietnam and Malaysia, according to the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam (TRAV).
After a sharp fall due to adverse impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, wood export revenue has seen signs of recovery since June thanks to exporters’ efforts to adapt to the situation.
Exports of wood and wood products in the first four months of the year were worth nearly 3.2 billion USD, a year-on-year increase of 6 percent, according to the General Department of Customs.
Wood processing and export businesses of Vietnam hold many opportunities to expand market and increase export value in the time ahead, experts said at a workshop in Ho Chi Minh City on March 7.
The 12th International Woodworking Industry Fair (VietnamWood 2017), the biggest of its kind in Vietnam, kicked off at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre in Ho Chi Minh City on October 18.
The export of wood and wood products is forecast to bring home 7.5 billion USD in 2017 and keep increasing in the following years, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
Canada’s Minister of International Trade Francois-Philippe Champagne will tour Asia from May 20-26 to boost trade and investment ties, especially in wood export, with Asian partners, including Vietnam, Singapore, the Republic of Korea and Japan.
Wood export in the southern province of Dong Nai totaled 1.2 billion USD in 2015, up 17 percent from 2014, according to the provincial Statistics Office.
Vietnam’s wood sector pocketed 425 million USD from exports to China in the first half of this year, ranking second among Vietnamese exports to China behind cassava.