Exports of wood products destined for the US are expected to continue growing this year.
The US market’s orders of wood and forest products in the first two
months this year were estimated to total nearly 1.7 billion USD, almost
equal to last year’s total turnover, according to Vice President of the
Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association Nguyen Ton Quyen.
Meanwhile, the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh
City forecast that wood product exports to the US would surge by 18
percent, while those to the EU market would rise by 8-10 percent. Those
to China would go up 15 percent and goods shipped to Japan would
increase by 11-12 percent.
Director of the Forest management
Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
Nguyen Huu Dung, however, said that import markets would become stricter
about the legality of raw materials, urging enterprises to move to meet
the requirements of relevant international trade policies such as the
US Lacey Act and the EU’s FLEGT.-VNA