Wood product exports soar in month

March 07, 2011 | 14:14

(0) user say

Wood products exports in February totalled $200 million, bringing the exports value in the first two months of the year to $548 million a surge of 17.6 per cent over the same period last year the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development announced.

illustration photo

Exports to key markets in the US, Japan, mainland China and the Republic of Korea (RoK), which together accounted for 63.7 per cent of wood products export value, increased significantly, with exports to the RoK nearly tripling.

The US remained the leading market for Vietnamese wood products, buying up $118 million worth, followed by the EU ($90.2 million), Japan ($49.1 million) and China ($32 million).

Exports of wood products could rise by another 30 per cent and exceed $4 billion this year thanks to rising global demand, said Vietnam Wood and Forest Products Association vice chairman Nguyen Ton Quyen.

However, the association was advising exporters to increase their focus on the domestic market to lower the risk of rising raw material prices.

Vietnam ranked fourth among Southeast Asian wood products exporters, but only 20 per cent of wood products consumed in the country were produced by domestic enterprises, with the remaining 80 per cent imported from mainland China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Taiwan, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Handicraft and Wood Products Association.

"Vietnamese enterprises should be more familiar with domestic consumer tastes," said association chairman Nguyen Chien Thang. "If there were a focus on high- to average-income segments, they could definitely dominate the domestic market, instead of wrestling over foreign markets."

VIR/VNA

What the stars mean:

★ Poor ★ ★ Promising ★★★ Good ★★★★ Very good ★★★★★ Exceptional