The wood export market may set a record in 2024

According to the Department of Forestry (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), in the first 6 months of 2024, wood and forest product exports earned USD 7.95 billion, increasing by 21.2% over the same period in 2023 and reaching 52.3% compared to the plan for the whole year. On the contrary, Vietnam's import value of wood and wood products in the first 6 months of 2024 is estimated to reach USD 1.29 billion, an increase of 19% over the same period in 2023. Thanks to that, the entire wood and forest product industry had a trade surplus in the first 6 months of 2024, estimated to reach USD 6.664 billion, up 21.6% over the same period last year.

Currently, the US is still the largest export market of Vietnamese wood and wood products. Accordingly, the US is accounting for nearly 54% of the total export turnover of wood and wood products from Vietnam.

According to Mr. Ngo Sy Hoai, General Secretary of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association, in the US market, wooden furniture imported from Vietnam accounts for about 41% of this country's total import value of wooden furniture.

Commenting on the potential and opportunities to export Vietnamese wood and wood products to the US in the second half of the year, Mr. Hoai said that, according to the latest developments, the US is making moves to cut interest rates. This inevitably stimulates consumer demand back, expanding the import-export demand of businesses, leading to a strong increase in consumer demand for wooden furniture in this market.

Besides, there is a very important factor to promote the growth of export turnover of Vietnamese wood and wood products to the US in the coming time. To be more specific, on July 17, the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam (Ministry of Industry and Trade) announced that the US Department of Commerce (DOC) has issued the final conclusion of the investigation case to consider product scope and prevent anti-dumping/anti-subsidy tax evasion on wooden cabinets imported from Vietnam. Accordingly, the entire investigation case on anti-dumping/anti-subsidy tax evasion for wooden cabinets imported from Vietnam was canceled. This move will make the export of Vietnamese wood products more accessible to the US and achieve high growth from now until the end of the year.

According to the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City, the export of wood and wood products grew strongly thanks to positive signals from the US and European (EU) markets. Of which, the US is still the largest market for Vietnam's wooden furniture exports.

"Currently it is not the peak season, but each month Vietnam exports USD 1.2-1.4 billion of wood products. With the current increase, in the last months of the year, which is the peak shopping season of countries, the export can increase to USD 1.6-1.8 billion/month, thus Vietnam's export target of USD 17.5 billion this year may be completed," said Mr. Nguyen Quoc Khanh, Chairman of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City.

Sharing the same opinion, Mr. Nguyen Liem, Chairman of Binh Duong Furniture Association (BIFA), also said that the good growth of wood and wood product exports in the first half of this year is a positive result for Vietnam's wood industry in the context of many difficulties, including the supply chain of goods being interrupted due to tensions in the Red Sea.

Despite good export results in the first half of the year, in order to grow and develop sustainably, Mr. Liem said that the wood industry in general needs to proactively adapt to all conditions and circumstances, thereby making flexible changes in production and export processes. Especially developing technology and product supply chain from raw materials and ancillary materials to logistics.

In fact, the export of wood and wood products has increased but is still not really positive when Vietnamese businesses have a relatively weak number of orders, and the operating capacity of domestic wood businesses only reaches about 50–70%. Short orders, short ordering times, and rising raw material prices cause costs to increase highly. Meanwhile, customers always ask for discounts. This causes export businesses to be able to face difficulties.