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Wooden product exports slow in first half of 2009
Wooden product exports, mostly made up of furniture, are forecast to fetch US$1.26 billion in the first half of this year, 10 to 15 percent less than in the same period last year.
Export revenue to the major markets of the U.S. and Europe were down around 10 percent so far this year, Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association (VIFORES) General Secretary Nguyen Ton Quyen said.
Europe is currently the largest importer of Vietnam’s wooden products.
Despite a fall in orders, many Vietnamese wooden product makers have been able to find enough customers to maintain production for the rest of the year, Quyen said.
The wooden products sector, one of the country’s top five export earners, has been seeking new markets since the beginning of this year after orders dried up in traditional markets, including the U.S., Europe and Japan.
Industry insiders blamed the export slump on the global economic downturn which resulted in lower demand from foreign importers.
At a seminar held in Hanoi late last month, Quyen forecast the sector may miss the target of generating $3.2 billion in exports this year.
Vietnews
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