Vietnam’s wood export expands nearly 16 pct in 9 months

According to the Vietnam Administration of Forestry, the products ran a trade surplus of 5.08 billion USD in the period, with the surplus for wood and wood products 4.74 billion USD.

The US is the biggest importer of Vietnam’s timber goods, with import turnover of 2.7 billion USD in the first nine months of this year, up 15.8 percent compared to the same period of 2017.

It was followed by Japan with 827 million USD (up 8.1 percent) and China with 812.6 million USD (up 3.8 percent).

The Republic of Korea, Australia, Canada and France were also large importers of Vietnamese timber and wood products, with respective import value of 699.2 million USD, 137 million USD, 115 million USD and 90 million USD.

Vietnam aims to earn 9 billion USD from exporting forestry products in 2018.

The export turnover of wood and timber products is expected to increase in the rest months of this year in line with consumption habits.

In addition, Vietnam and the European Union (EU) are completing procedures to approve the signing of the voluntary partnership agreement on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade.

By mid-July 2018, the European Commission approved the content of the agreement and agreed to submit it to the EU Council of Ministers for signing.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has submitted the document to the Government for approval.

Nguyen Ton Quyen, General Secretary of the Association of Vietnam Timber and Forest Product, said the Vietnamese forestry sector is also facing many difficulties, including a shortage of raw materials for production and fierce competition with Chinese firms.