According to Vietnam Plus, wood and woodworking firms in Vietnam have received orders to last them through Q3 2022, being able to keep up with the orders with their quick resumption of production.
Export revenue of wood and wooden furniture has risen by 3% year-on-year to US$3.94 billion in Q1 2022.
Nguyen Chanh Phuong, vice-chairman of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City (HAWA), reported that free trade agreements have enabled Vietnamese firms to expand their market and improve the competitiveness of their products.
For instance, the export of wooden furniture to markets covered by the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) has surged. Nguyen noted that Vietnam has enjoyed many advantages in the US, Australia, Canada, the Republic of Korea and Japan with the CPTPP.
He expects that further growth is forecast to continue in the future as many companies are speeding up production to deliver the orders they have received for Q2. He also lauded the domestic firms’ efforts to increase added value for their products.
Duong Thi Minh Tue, business manager of Minh Duong Furniture, said that along with orders that the firm has received for Q3, more are coming in for Q4 2022. But furniture exporters are facing many difficulties, especially high logistics costs.
Bui Thi Thanh An, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)’s Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) said that in order to motivate the sector’s growth, the agency has coordinated with other parties to implement trade promotion activities to help local firms access more markets and service supply sources.
A project to help boost the industry from 2021-2030 was approved in March, which aims to bring Vietnam’s exports of wood and wooden products to $18.5bn in 2025 and $20.4bn in 2030, and aims to turn the sector into a key economic industry and promote the trademark of Vietnamese wood products domestically and internationally.
One task of the project is to develop infrastructure and expand production scale, working to form five high-tech forestry areas, attracting investment from wood processors and auxiliary materials producers. Another task is to develop groups of products, such as furniture and wood plank products, with competitive advantages, value-added, and high and stable demand in the market.
The wood and wooden products are also expected to be made with timber sourced from legal wood materials with sustainable forest management certification.
Source: Vietnam Plus
