Illustrative image (Source: VNA) This was especially evident in exports to the US and Japan, Vietnam’s largestwood importers. In the first three months of 2017, Vietnam’s wood export to theUS reached 596 million USD, 17.6 percent higher than the same period last year.The export to Japan grew 6.6 percent, earning 256 million USD.
These impressive results made wood and wooden products exports the biggestearners of Vietnam’s farm export sector in Q1. It’s considered a positivesignal for the expected target of 10 billion USD in timber export value by2020.
In 2017, the sector set a target of 7.5 billion USD in wood export, however,given the first quarter results, this number could rise as high as 8 billionUSD this year, said Huynh Van Hanh, deputy chairman of the Handicraft and WoodIndustry Association of HCM City (HAWA).
According to preliminary figures compiled by the Centre for Industrial Studies(CSIL), global furniture consumption is worth more than 460 billion USD a year.Vietnam accounts for just 1.65 percent of this figure, which means there isconsiderable room for Vietnamese firms to increase their market share.
China is the world’s largest supplier of wooden products, accounting for 37 percentof the world’s total consumption. However, the Chinese government cut itsoverall timber harvesting quotas by 9 percent, equal to 40 million cubic metresof timber, opening up more opportunities for Vietnamese firms to boost theirexports, Hanh said.
In addition, a series of free trade agreements that the country has signed willoffer greater export opportunities for domestic firms, he added.
The Republic of Korea (RoK) is also one of the countries which have signed afree trade agreement with Vietnam, leading to a 16.6 percent increase inrevenue of wood and wooden exports to this country to 143.84 million USD.
According to the Vietnam Trade Promotion Office in RoK, trade relations betweenthe two countries will grow rapidly due to the close connections in aspectssuch as politics, diplomacy and investment.
The office also says that if the use of raw materials of unidentified origin inexport products is eliminated, the wood industry in Vietnam will have moreopportunities to expand and develop its market in RoK.
The demand of global markets for high-value wood products is also an importantfactor for raising the value of wood exports. Demand for furniture items, forexample, is estimated to increase sharply this year. Therefore, many Vietnamesewood enterprises have been boosting investment in modern automatic technology,while expanding production scale to fulfill orders.
In order to promote wood export in 2017, it is necessary to prioritise thedevelopment of artificial boards and many Vietnam’s firms are qualified toproduce this product. Another solution is focusing on potential markets, suchas India and the Middle East, as suggested by the Vietnam Timber and ForestProducts Association.-VNA
VNA
