Australia a land of opportunity for Vietnamese wood

The General Department of Vietnam Customs reports that exports of wood and timber products hit US$3.37 billion during the first five months of this year, a year-on-year rise of 11.3%. Australia was one of the top ten importers of Vietnamese wood and timber products with a value of more than US$66.7 million 11.3% higher than the corresponding period last year.

According to the statistics from the International Trade Centre, the Oceanian nation imported US$362.8 million worth of wooden furniture from major markets such as China, Vietnam and Malaysia during the first quarter, up 6.4% over last year’s same quarter. But, the statistics show that Australia’s imports from China displayed a drastic upturn and a fall in imports from Vietnam in the above mentioned period, which demonstrates that Vietnam’s wooden furniture has not yet met the tastes of Australian customers.

IBISWorld - a global business intelligence leader specializing in industry market research and procurement and purchasing research - has announced the results of a review of the 2013-2018 period, showing that Australian customers tend to favour low-cost furniture as local producers failed to compete with imported products in terms of prices due to high labour and material costs. Therefore its furniture industry is following a slow upward trend while imports are seeing strong growth. Particularly, Australian customers pay no or little attention to the origin of products but rather pay heed to the quality, designs and prices of products.

The Vietnamese Import-Export Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade emphasizes the need for Vietnamese businesses to fully grasp opportunities to the highly lucrative market by improving their technology, research, and product designs and quality, and reducing prices in order to suit Australian customers’ tastes.