In fact, Vietnam’s wood industry is seeing declining sales overseas.
The export value in July was estimated at 1.41 billion USD, down 5.5 percent against June and down 1.6 percent year-on-year, according to a report of the General Department of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).
Vietnam has become the world’s sixth largest exporter of wood and wooden products with more than 4 percent of the global market, second largest in Asia, and biggest in the Southeast Asia, putting it under scrutiny from major trading partners.
Besides sourcing locally, Vietnam also imports raw timber, including from tropical countries. The volume of tropical wood imported annually is around 1.5 million cubic metres, or 30 percent of total imports, mostly from Africa.
According to statistics from the General Department of Customs, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, exports of wood and wooden products grew by 17.6 percent last year to 14.12 billion USD.
Vietnamese wood and wood products are present in more than 163 countries.
Vietnam is targeting 20 billion USD in total timber exports by 2025, an increase of more than $9 billion compared to now.
The value of timber and wood products for domestic consumption will reach $5 billion in 2025 and over $6 billion in 2030.
The industry aims to have more than 80 percent of wood processing and preservation establishments equipped with advanced technology, and all timber and wood products for export and domestic consumption will be made from the legal raw material of timber.
By 2030, the domestic wood processing industry will become an important economic sector and develop a reputable brand for Vietnamese wood products in domestic and export markets.
Vietnam strives to become one of the leading countries in the world's production, processing, and export of timber and wood products.
Another task of the industry is to develop infrastructure and expand production scale. Specifically, the industry will form five forestry zones with high technology applications to attract investment from wood processing enterprises and enterprises producing auxiliary materials.
