Positive signs of Vietnamese wood exports to US
Vietnam’s wood exports to the United States during the opening eight months of the year have surged by 60% to reach US$6.4 billion, despite facing COVID-19 challenges, according to data released by the General Department of Vietnam Customs.
However, August alone saw export turnover of timber and wooden products to the market decrease by 24.2% to US$540 million compared to last year’s corresponding period.
Do Xuan Lap, chairman of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association (VIFOREST), attributed this decline to increasing freight rates coupled with the complicated nature of developments caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in large wood processing centres such as Binh Duong and Dong Nai since April.
But on the bright side, economic recovery in the US is fuelling the consumption demand for wooden furniture in this market, especially at the end of the year as its demand is likely to reach US$100 billion this year, according to figures given by VIFOREST.
Therefore, there remains plenty of room for timber and wooden products to the US market in the near future, particularly as the pandemic is brought under control, said experts.
Most notably, the US home furniture market is projected to grow at an average of 3% throughout the 2021 to 2026 period, thereby leading to an increase in the import of timber and wooden products in the future, according to the mordorintelligence.com,
Along with issues caused by COVID-19, the wood industry is also at risks of trade remedy cases, said the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam, adding that local firms must focus on strictly monitoring the issuance of certificates of origin to prevent possible cases of trade fraud in order to benefit from tax incentives in the US market.
