Vietnam’s forestry export value forecast to reach US$16.3 billion in 2022

VNFOREST Director General Nguyen Quoc Tri said the export of wood and wooden products is facing an array of difficulties, mainly due to impacts from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has pushed up transportation costs, along with dropping demand given inflation pressure in other countries.

Tri said the administration will hold working sessions with associations and businesses to meet signed contracts while accessing other markets that are less affected by the crises.

The sector will put forth a scenario on forestry product export and import management to meet the yearly targets, he added.

The official suggested businesses use more domestic materials and churn out auxiliary products to lower product prices and diversify products, thus bettering meeting export demands.

Meanwhile, joint efforts will be made to avert trade fraud and control wood imports, Tri said, adding that the outstanding models of connectivity between enterprises and household-based forest plantations will be rolled out on a larger scale.

According to Nguyen Van Dien, Director of the Forestry Production Development, a total of 372,140 hectares of forest in 31 provinces and cities are granted sustainable forest certificates.

Statistics by VNFOREST showed that in the first half of this year, Vietnam earned US$9.1 billion from forestry product exports, up 3% year-on-year, achieving 56% of the target. The trade surplus was estimated at some US$7.5 billion, a year-on-year rise of 3%.

The US, Japan, China, the EU and the Republic of Korea were major buyers of Vietnamese forestry products, accounting for up to 90% of the total export value.

Vietnam’s wood output reached some 8.5 million cubic metres, fulfilling 46% of the target and up 5.9% year-on-year.