According to statistics from the General Administration of Vietnam Customs, in July 2022 Vietnam’s exports of wood and wood products reached US$1.3 billion, down 3.1% from the same period last year. Overall, in the first seven months of 2022, exports of wood and wood products reached US$9.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 1.1%. Among them, the export value of wood products decreased year-on-year, reaching 6.9 billion US dollars, a decrease of 7.5%.
According to Mr Bui Chinh Nghia, Deputy Director General of the Forestry Ministry, the growth of exports across the industry in the first seven months of this year was lower than in 2021 and the same period in previous years.
The reason is that the prices of raw materials and products remain high due to the sharp increase in the production costs of materials and transportation. Various countries tightened credit policies due to inflation, resulting in a sharp decline in consumer demand. As we all know, the United States is the main export market for Vietnamese wood products. Against the backdrop of inflationary pressures in the world's largest economy, the United States, the country's consumer demand has slowed significantly, greatly affecting Vietnam's timber exporters.
According to data from the Ministry of Import and Export (Ministry of Industry and Trade), in the first seven months of 2022, China’s exports of wood and wood products to the U.S. market reached $5.56 billion, down 5.6 percent from the same period in 2021. Exports of wood and wood products to the United States are the main reason for the weakening of the wood industry's growth momentum, a representative of the Import and Export Department said.
While exports of wood and wood products to the largest market declined, the value of exports to Asian markets grew in positive territory in the first seven months of 2022.
Among them, exports to the Chinese market bore the brunt, reaching US$1.16 billion, an increase of 25.4% over the same period in 2021; followed by exports to Japan, reaching US$1 billion, an increase of 23.1% year-on-year; exports to South Korea increased by 12.7% to US$602 million ; Exports to Malaysia were US$92.1 million, up 38% year-on-year.
The representative of the Ministry of Import and Export said that timber companies should make full use of the signed and effective Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Vietnam-Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA), Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (FTA), ASEAN Free trade agreements such as the Agreement on Trade in Goods (FTA) to increase exports, diversify export markets and avoid dependence on some markets.