Wood exports to the US see bullish trend

A worker making a wood product for export at a factory in Binh Dương —Province VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Despite a significant decrease in the first eight months of the year, Việt Nam’s export of wood and wood products to the US market has seen many positive signals.

In August, the export value of wood and wood products to the US declined 1.4 per cent year-on-year to US$674.6 million, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs. The decline was narrowed compared to the loss in the previous month, showing signs of the recovery of the industry.

The export value was down 10.8 per cent from 2022 in July.

However, in the first eight months of the year, the export value of wood and wood products to the US reached $24.6 billion, a fall of 27.1 per cent from the same period last year.

The decreases were driven by weaker demand, high inflation, tight monetary policies and high inventories.

However, inventories in the US have dropped to 10 per cent as of August and are expected to fall to 0 per cent by the end of this year.

This is an opportunity for Việt Nam to boost export of goods, such as wood and wood products, in the near future.

Nguyễn Sỹ Hoè, President of the Board of Directors of Phú Tài JSC, said that even though sales improved as we were in sales season and the consumer market grew from last year, it was not possible to assess the situation because of the lack of data.

"Depending on the customer segment, revenue may increase or decrease in the near future, but overall, the US market trend is positive, although not as strong as expected," he added.

Phú Tài JSC specialises in exporting wooden furniture to the US market.

Moreover, there are requirements for green production and clean, and sustainable supply chains. Thus, Vietnamese enterprises must continuously engage in research, market development, and manufacturing capacity enhancement to fulfil technological requirements and ensure effective management and customer care, according to experts.

Businesses also need to participate in trade promotion programmes and wood industry exhibitions to cooperate with distribution channels, develop a reputation, apply customer diversification strategies.

Recently, the US has implemented numerous trade protection policies to safeguard the interests of domestic businesses and enhance the frequency of trade defence investigations against Vietnamese wood products. Therefore, wood processing enterprises must raise awareness and adherence to the legal policies of both nations.