Timber exports in 2017 will reach $ 7.5 billion

In 2016, wood export growth is relatively low and only approximately 7 billion USD. But from the beginning of the year, wood export has recovered pretty good growth of previous years and is aiming at $ 7.5 billion.

According to the General Department of Customs, in the first quarter of 2017, exports of wood and wood products reached $ 1.78 billion, up 17.1% over the same period last year. With such export value, wood and wood products are leading the export value in agricultural, forestry and aquatic products.

However, it is worth noting that the growth rate of 17.1% is not only significantly higher than the 1.1% of the previous year but also corresponds to the high growth rate of the wood industry in some years ago. This is the growth rate needed for the export value of wood and wood products to reach the $ 10 billion threshold that ministries, industries and the wood industry are aiming for by 2020.

In 2017 alone, the target that the wood sector is targeting is export growth of 8-10% to reach $ 7.5 billion.

However, some experts in the industry said that the value of exports can reach even higher. According to Mr. Huynh Van Hanh, PCT Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City, export value of wood products in this year may reach the threshold of $ 8 billion.

Mr. Hạnh made the above statement based on some new opportunities for the Vietnamese timber industry. First of all, the wood products from China are subject to anti-dumping duties. China accounts for about 37% of the US furniture imports and is Vietnam's major rival in this important market (US furniture market is about $ 30 billion a year).

As a result, Chinese furniture will be subject to anti-dumping duties by the US, which will cause the US shipments to be exported to ASEAN wood exporters, including Vietnam. As Vietnam is the largest exporter of wood and wood products in ASEAN, the opportunity for Vietnam's timber industry to take advantage of the orders from China is very large, especially furniture.

In addition, a series of free trade agreements signed between Vietnam and other countries and regions in recent years are also creating great opportunities for the timber industry. Typically, the export of wood and wood products to Korea has been progressing well since the Korea-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement took effect.

In the first three months of this year, exports of wood and wood products reached $ 143.84 million, an increase of 16.6% over the same period last year. In 2016, although the export turnover of wood in the country only increased slightly 1.1% over 2015, the value of wood and wood products exported to South Korea still grows well at 15.3%.

According to the Vietnam Trade Office in South Korea, the trade relations between Vietnam and South Korea will continue to grow rapidly in the coming years thanks to the deepening of the connection in many fields from politics. , foreign investment, trade between the two countries in particular and market integration in general.

If the raw materials of unidentified origin, high-risk wood in export products are eliminated, the wood industry in Vietnam will have more opportunities to expand and develop the market in Korea. National.

The demand of the world market for some high value timber products is also an important factor for increasing the value of wood exports. Furniture, for example, is estimated to increase sharply in demand worldwide in 2017. Understanding that opportunity, many Vietnamese wood enterprises have been pushing up investment in modern technology. The automation direction, while expanding the production scale to meet the orders.

Mr. Nguyen Chien Thang, General Director of Scansia Paciffic, said that many factories are initially planning to expand the scale of 25 - 30%, but then raised the scale to 50%. Mr. Chien's company also invested in building a wood processing plant to meet the orders.

In addition, it can not fail to mention stable growth in many big markets such as USA, Japan ...

For the first three months of this year, wood exports to the US reached $ 596 million, up 17.6% over the same period last year. Export of wood to Japan has grown modestly (6.6%) but also reached over $ 256 million. In particular, the Chinese market is expected to have less potential but the I / 2017 increased 62.4% over the same period last year when it reached over $ 276 million.

According to the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association, in order to promote wood export in 2017, two major solutions have been proposed. The first is to prioritize the development of artificial board as this item completely uses domestic plantation timber. Many Vietnamese wood enterprises also qualify, technology to produce this product. The second is to diversify export markets towards more focus on potential markets such as Korea, India, Middle East ...