Raising the bar for wood sector exports

Nguyen Ton Quyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (Vietfores) made the assessment recently and emphasised that Vietnam’s wood export turnover is expected to hit US$7 billion by 2015, five years ahead of schedule under the national forestry strategy for the 2006-2020 period which have been approved by the Prime Minister.  

Nguyen Ton Quyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (Vietfores) recently revealed that the country is currently on course to achieve an annual export volume of US$7 billion by 2015.

Wood exporters are forecast to gross even larger revenues and enjoy greater benefits when tariffs are removed or reduced Quyen said adding that it is likely the sector will achieve annual exports of US$15-20 billion within ten years.

Quyen said there has been an upward trend in wood product exports in almost all markets. The US and Japanese market have increased on-year by 14.17% and 19.47%, respectively.

Vietnam’s wood products are currently available in more than 100 foreign markets, with the largest markets being the US, EU, China and Japan. The country has also transformed into the number one exporter in ASEAN and ranks second in Asia and sixth in the world.

Viforess recently announced that they are forecasting the nation’s wood exports to reach US$6.2 billion this year, which means that exports have increased twofold in the past five years.

This year, most all wood exporting enterprises are reporting higher revenues. For example, Duc Thanh Wood Processing Joint Stock Company reports it has achieved a growth in revenue of VND197 billion, up 19.4%.

Despite difficulties in 2013, this year, Truong Thanh Furniture Corporation (TTF) says it also expects increased sales of VND63 billion, with interior volume accounting for over 55% of the total.

According to experts, Vietnam’s wood products are finding pathways and making significant inroads into major foreign markets due to their high quality, and competitive prices. Many big wood importers are now coming to Vietnam in lieu of China to place orders as a result.

Notably, the economic downturn in Europe has resulted in some of the world’s largest manufacturers in Italy, Germany and the US either cutting back on production or closing their businesses entirely.

Meanwhile, there have been positive signs of recovery in the consumption of wood products in the local market with the rate of interior products in the domestic market increasing by 20% and 40%.

Quyen says though the global market stands at US$300 billion annually, Vietnam’s export volume remains modest but leading market analysts are predicting it to rise sharply upon the signing of major trade agreements with the EU and the Asia-Pacific nations.

The fourth high-level negotiation round on a Voluntary Partnership Agreement regarding Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (VPA/FLEGT) between Vietnam and the European Union (EU) recently took place in Hanoi.

At the top of the agenda were ways to control, exploit, process and transport wood products legally to all EU nations.