China becomes Vietnam's largest wood chip export market

Vietnam exports wood chips to 13 markets in 2023. China, Japan and the Republic of Korea are the country's three main wood chip export markets.

Vietnam exported over 9.38 million tonnes of wood chips to the Chinese market in 2023, reaching over 1.43 billion USD, accounting for 65.1% in volume and 64.7 in value.

In the Chinese market, the average export price of wood chips decreased from 183 - 185 USD per tonne at the beginning of last year to less than 140 USD per tonne in the middle of the year, then rose slightly in the last months of the year but remained below 150 USD per tonne.

Ranking second is the Japanese market. The price of wood chips declined by up to 36 USD per tonne last year.

Specifically, the price of wood chips exported to this market was 181 USD per tonne in January last year but fell to 145 USD by December.

Wood chip exports to the Korean market reached 548,590 tonnes, reaching 91.88 million USD, accounting for 3.8% in volume and 4.1% in value.

Similar to the Japanese and Chinese markets, export prices to the Korean market have decreased by 27 USD per tonne last year with strong fluctuations during the year.

The market recorded an average export price of 200 USD per tonne in January, 2023, but the price decreased continuously to bottom out at 136 USD, but bounced back to 172 USD in the last months of the year.

The Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association said that the demand for imported wood chips in the Chinese market would tend to continue to decline in the near future, leading to a decline in chip export prices in this market.

In general, the export market structure of wood chips will not change significantly in the near future.

However, the wood chip industry will continue to compete in raw materials with the pellet industry, especially in northern provinces because planted forest wood is the main input for both industries in this area.

Therefore, businesses and management agencies need to consider investing in building up raw material sources to ensure a stable supply for production and export.