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Vietnamese wood exports grow despite US recession
Vietnam’s wood exports have strengthened over the past few months despite experts who said the sector would be hit hard by the US financial crisis. Vietnamese wood furniture orders from the US, Vietnam’s biggest furniture export market, have increased by 12 percent over the last three months, said Nguyen Ton Quyen, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association (Vietfores).
Quyen said this was a good figure as demand for indoor furniture and other wood products in the US had declined following the real estate crunch.
In the first nine months of this year, Vietnam woodwork exports to the US generated some US$780 million in turnover, or 39 percent of the country’s total wood product export value.
Dang Quoc Hung, deputy chairman of the HCMC Handicraft and Wood Industry Association (HAWA), said global economic difficulties had caused a drop in wood goods production in some major export countries.
Hung said this was an opportunity for Vietnamese woodwork manufacturers and exporters.
“Local companies can reach niche markets or small purchase orders,” he said, adding that while small orders were not of much concern to big suppliers, they were suitable for small-and medium-sized Vietnamese firms.
The EU bloc, Vietnam’s second-largest wood products export market, also possesses potential for high-quality woodwork exports.
Last year, Vietnam earned more than $600 million from wood products exports to the EU market and expects to see $780 million in turnover from exports to the bloc this year. The UK, France, and Germany are Vietnam’s major woodwork export markets in the EU.
Vietnam is now home to 2,000 wood-processing companies, of which around 300 ship directly to foreign countries.
Last year, the country topped $2.4 billion in furniture exports, a 10-fold increase since 2000.
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WOODWORK FAIR
Over 300 local and foreign companies are participating in the annual furniture and handicrafts EXPO 2008 fair which started Wednesday in Ho Chi Minh City.
The fair promotes Vietnam’s woodwork industry to the world, Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency Head Do Thang Hai told the opening ceremony. “People who do not know much about the standard of Vietnam’s wood-processing sector can visit the fair,” he said.
The fair, which runs until October 12 at the HCMC International Exhibition and Convention Center in Tan Binh District, has nearly 850 booths with more than two thirds displaying indoor furniture. |
Thanhnien
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