Wood exports to hit annual target
Vietnam's wood industry is expecting to meet this year's export target of US$5.5 billion, thanks to a market recovery, experts have said.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade says that wood exports gained a year-on-year increase of 12.5% in the first half of this year to US$2.46 billion.
Traditional markets such as the US, Japan and China also had a strong surge in export value.
Dang Quoc Hung, deputy chairman of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City (HAWA), says the recovery of the US market is expected to fuel Vietnamese wood exports to this market to US$1.7 billion by the year’s end.
In the second half of this year, Chinese demand for wood will surge due to competitive price, and hopefully the mainland will import US$800 million of woodchips from Vietnam this year.
The ministry says that the export value of wood products is expected to increase by 10-15% to reach US$5.5 billion this year.
However, Hung says, almost all of the wood processing businesses have faced higher import prices for their materials, yet they could not increase their selling price, so they must have huge losses or might be even forced to stop production.
On the other hand, large businesses have managed to keep up production because they have modern equipment which reduces labour costs.
Companies have said that the Government should support them with low interest rate loans so that they can upgrade their equipment and technology and overcome production difficulties.
The Government should also not increase land rent to allow businesses to focus on their capital and to make investment in equipment and technology.