The 10 largest import markets were the US, Japan, China, the Republic of Korea, the UK, Germany, Canada, Australia, France and the Netherlands.
Exports to some market increased strongly compared to the same period last year. Exports to Austria were up by 181.6 percent to reach USD706,000; Portugal up by 56.3 percent to USD1.84 million; Mexico up by 53.4 percent to USD4.9 million; Saudi Arabia up by 43 percent to USD12.42 million; and the US up by 34.7 percent to USD1.41 billion, the department said.
But exports to some markets fell significantly, such as Turkey, down by 81.5 percent, reaching USD1.1 million; Cambodia down by 49.6 percent, to USD1.92 million; Hong Kong (China) down by 45.9 percent, to USD1.32 million; and Finland down by 41 percent, to USD480,000.
The strong rise in demand from Vietnam’s key import markets such as the US and Japan increased export revenue in the period, the department said.
Workers at a furniture processing plant in Binh Duong province. (Photo: VNA) In addition, the improvement of the domestic business and investment environment helped boost manufacturing and export activities of enterprises involved in the wood processing industry.
The General Department of Vietnam Customs forecasts that the country’s wood and wooden products exports in the first half of 2019 will increase by 16-18 percent over the same period in 2018, given that many wood processing firms have export orders until the end of the year.
According to the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCM City (Hawa), last year the revenue from wood and wooden products reached nearly USD9.4 billion, accounting for over 23 percent of the agriculture sector’s total export turnover.
The wood processing sector also enjoyed a trade surplus of over USD7 billion.
Hawa Chairman Nguyen Quoc Khanh quoted Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc as saying at a recent conference that Vietnam should become the world’s quality furniture production hub.
The global furniture market is worth nearly USD200 billion a year, so there is still more room for the country to enhance exports, according to Khanh.
“The Government has set a target to achieve furniture export revenue of USD20-30 billion in the next five to 10 years, and it is not an unrealistic target,” he said.
Khanh said domestic wood processing companies had overtaken foreign direct investment enterprises in terms of export revenue, and could compete fairly with foreign rivals to provide products to large corporations.
However, local wood enterprises were weak in design and distribution, with only 5 percent of the exported products designed locally.
The association over the years had organised activities to develop local furniture design teams and help local firms expand their distribution systems, he said./.