Exports of wood products destined for the US are expected to continue growing this year.

The US market’s orders of wood and forest products in the first two months this year were estimated to total nearly 1.7 billion USD, almost equal to last year’s total turnover, according to Vice President of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association Nguyen Ton Quyen.

Meanwhile, the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City forecast that wood product exports to the US would surge by 18 percent, while those to the EU market would rise by 8-10 percent. Those to China would go up 15 percent and goods shipped to Japan would increase by 11-12 percent.

Director of the Forest management Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Huu Dung, however, said that import markets would become stricter about the legality of raw materials, urging enterprises to move to meet the requirements of relevant international trade policies such as the US Lacey Act and the EU’s FLEGT.-VNA