With earnings topping 1.2 billion USD in the first quarter, exporters of
wood and wood products are hoping to rake in 5.5 billion USD this year,
according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
With 3.5 million hectares of forest, the country harvests
approximately six million cu.m. of wood each year, 80 percent of which
is exported in the form of wood chips, while only 20 percent is
processed into other kinds of products.
The US, China and Japan are the major markets for Vietnamese wood and wood products.
Last year, Vietnam became the largest wood exporter in Southeast
Asian with total export turnover at 4.67 billion USD, a year on year
increase of 18 percent.
However, Vietnamese wood product
exporters are still facing various difficulties such as unhealthy
competition in material purchase and product sale, and the lack of
distribution networks in foreign markets.-VNA