(VAN) Although export turnover increases by 20.5% over the same period in 2023, Vietnam's wood industry still faces many challenges.
At the conference on the wood processing industry and export of wood and forest products in the third quarter of 2024 held on August 9 in Binh Duong, Mr. Tran Quang Bao, Director of the Forestry Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) said, in 2024, the export target of wood and forest products is expected to reach 15.2 billion USD with wood and wood products reaching over 14.2 billion USD, an increase of 6% compared to 2023.
Accordingly, in the first 7 months of the year, the wood export industry received positive signs of recovery. The export value of wood and forest products is estimated at 9.361 billion USD, reaching 61.5% of the year's plan, an increase of 20.5% over the same period in 2023. In the US market alone, exports reached 5.019 billion USD, an increase of 24%. The import value of wood and wood products is estimated at 1.504 billion USD, an increase of 22.3% compared to 2023. The trade surplus value is estimated at 7.857 billion USD.
Exports of wood and wood products are forecast to grow positively in the last months of 2024.
However, Mr. Tran Quang Bao said that the world economy in 2024 will still be under pressure from high interest rates, trade tensions, military conflicts, and political fluctuations. This may affect the demand for wood and wood products in the last months of the year. The main export markets of Vietnam's wooden furniture such as the EU, US, Japan, and Korea are facing economic difficulties and product protection.
"In the US market, this country has ended an investigation against tax evasion on Vietnamese wooden cabinets and dressing tables. But in the future, the US will strengthen control and post-inspection on this item. At the same time, the US will continue to support domestic businesses by increasing trade defense measures through anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations," Mr. Tran Quang Bao informed.
Mr. Do Xuan Lap, Chairman of Viforest Association, said that the US is an important market for Vietnam's wood industry, accounting for over 54% of the industry's total export value. According to Mr. Lap, the US Department of Commerce has not recognized Vietnam as a market economy, causing wood industry businesses to face many challenges. Enterprises exporting Vietnamese goods to the US will continue to be discriminated against in anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations.
The actual production costs of Vietnamese enterprises continue to not be recognized but must use the "replacement value" of a third country to calculate the dumping margin.
Faced with these difficulties, Mr. Lap said that the solution for Vietnam's wood industry currently and in the coming time is to focus on improving the competitiveness of businesses based on five main pillars. These are engineering, production technology, emission reduction, management (digital transformation), trade promotion and building internal monitoring standards.
The wood industry also recommends and coordinates with ministries and branches to support businesses in responding to trade investigations from the US; update policy information from key export markets; propose increased trade promotion and fire prevention support for wood processing factories; manage specialized fairs and build international fairs.
