Forestry exports estimated at US$6.64 billion in nine months

• Wood exports hoped to reach US$9 billion ahead of schedule
• Wood furniture firms advised to optimise domestic materials
• Wood industry sees promise of growth in CPTPP

Export revenue of forestry products between January and September is estimated to surge 14% year on year to US$6.64 billion

According to the Vietnam Administration of Forestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the trade surplus of main forestry products is estimated at US$4.97 billion, with US$4.64 billion contributed by export of wooden products.

The US, Japan, the EU, China and the Republic of Korea (RoK) remain the largest importers of Vietnamese forestry goods. Export revenue to those countries hit US$5.17 billion, or 86.72% of total forestry export value.

Robust growth was seen in some traditional markets like China (6.5%), the EU (5%), Japan (10%), the RoK (52%) and the US (15.5%).

The administration said the country has planted 161,207 hectares of forest so far this year, up 7.5% from the same time in 2017 and 75.1% of the yearly plan.

As of September 20, the country had collected 1.79 trillion VND (76.97 million USD) from forest environment service fees, 77.2 percent of the yearly plan and up 76 percent from the same time last year.