Wood export likely to hit $14.5B in 2023
Vietnam’s wood export is likely to hit about $14.5 billion this year, lower than the yearly target of $17 billion, said Vice Chairman of the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City (HAWA) Nguyen Chanh Phuong.
The figure could reach roughly $6 billion between now and the year’s end.
Since early this year, wood and wooden furniture export has been dull, with a shortage of orders common in most businesses. In the past eight months, the export turnover neared $8.3 billion, down around 26% annually, Phuong told a local press conference on September 13.
Since May this year, the Vietnamese firms have been importing a significant amount of raw wood materials which rise by 5-10% per month. This is a sign that they are actively preparing for end-of-year orders, he added.
Citing data from the International Trade Centre (ITC), Phuong revealed that the Vietnamese wood enterprises are also importing a substantial amount of machinery and equipment, totaling approximately $240 million, mostly from China, Europe, the Republic of Korea and Japan, among others.