Vietnam: The wood industry approaches the 20 billion USD mark

Positive signals from the market show that, in 2022, the wood industry will continue to grow well, surpassing the set target and getting closer to the 20 billion USD mark.

Good news in the first month of the year

Information from the General Department of Customs shows that, in the first month, the export of wood and wood products achieved a very high turnover of US$1,549 billion, up 14.3% over the same period in 2021. Historically export of wood and wood products, this is the third time the turnover has exceeded 1.5 billion USD/month.

The first time the export turnover of wood and wood products exceeded 1.5 billion USD/month was in March 2021, when it reached 1.512 billion USD. Then, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the wood export turnover in April 2021 dropped sharply to only nearly 700 million USD. In May 2021, the export of wood and wood products recovered strongly when reaching 1.4 billion USD. And by June 2021, the export turnover of wood and wood products for the second time exceeded 1.5 billion USD/month when reaching 1.55 billion USD. This is the record export turnover in a month of the wood industry.

wood products

After reaching a record in June 2021, also due to the Covid-19 epidemic, wood exports in the following months decreased, with some months being below 1 billion USD. Until November 2021, the export of wood and wood products returned to the milestone of more than 1 billion USD/month. And in January 2022, there was only the third time that it surpassed the $1.5 billion mark. This is an impressive start for the wood industry in 2022.

With an export turnover of more than 1.5 billion USD, wood and wood products have been among 7 groups of export goods of the country with a turnover of more than 1 billion USD in the first month of the year and in the “top 3” of the group of goods with the highest turnover, double-digit growth (ranked second in growth after textiles and garments). This shows that the export of wood and wood products is making a larger contribution to the overall export of the country.

Will exceed the target of 16.5 billion USD

After being significantly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, the global interior and exterior market has recovered since the end of 2021 and is on the trend of continued strong growth as consumers in many countries work from home. more than before.

According to the Center for Industrial Research of Italy (CSIL), by the end of 2021, the total value of interior and exterior goods production in the world has reached 500 billion USD, of which a third of which is for export. Thus, the global export value of interior and exterior is currently very large, reaching about 170 billion USD.

Through the survey results in 100 markets, CSIL made the assessment that in 2022, the global furniture market will grow by about 4%. Among the major markets (furniture consumption is forecasted to be over 5 billion USD/year), the markets in Europe and Asia will have the strongest growth in furniture consumption. Besides, the main market of Vietnam’s wood industry, North America, will continue to grow steadily.

Thus, the world market is still very open for Vietnam’s wood industry. Exports of wood and wood products still have a lot of room to accelerate growth, while in some of the world’s leading wooden furniture import markets, Vietnam’s market share is still modest.

Specifically, information from the Import-Export Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade) shows that, in the first 10 months of 2021, the EU imported nearly 21 billion USD of wooden furniture. In which, furniture imported from Vietnam only accounts for a modest market share of 2.4%. In another leading world market, the UK, Vietnamese wooden furniture accounted for only 7.5% of the total import value in the first 10 months of 2021.

In general, in the global furniture import and export market, Vietnam’s export value only accounts for about 6%.

In the first months of 2022, many wooden furniture suppliers to the EU are still struggling with the Covid-19 epidemic, plus the pressure of rising sea freight rates, which limits the supply of wood and wood products for this market.

Therefore, this is an opportunity for Vietnam’s wooden furniture exporters to make the most of the incentives and advantages brought by the EVFTA Agreement to increase the market share of wooden furniture exports to Vietnam. EU market in 2022 and the coming years.

With positive signals from the market, many wood industry experts believe that this year’s export of wood and wood products will achieve the target of 16.5 billion USD that the Government has assigned. Even speaking in the press, Mr. Do Xuan Lap, Chairman of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association, said that the export of wood and wood products this year could reach 17.5-18 billion USD.