The turnover from timber and furniture exports in the first nine months of this year was estimated at US$2.43 billion, a year-on-year increase of 37.7%, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The ministry reported that the total export turnover of forestry products has risen to US$2.6 billion.

According to Vietnam’s Timber and Forest Products Association, timber exports are showing positive signs, as orders for exports from now until the end of the year have risen rapidly and many of them to the country’s major markets such as the US and the EU are very substantial.

Timber now is amongst the top five Vietnamese exports, and the country is Southeast Asia’s second biggest timber exporter.

Vietnam now has more than 2,500 timber processing businesses, 2.8 times higher than in 2000 and 7.7 times more than 1990. The number of non-State businesses represents 90% of the total.

Timber exports in recent years have increased sharply with more than 3,000 different items produced. Vietnamese wooden products are now sold in 120 foreign markets, including the US, EU, Japan, Australia, the Republic of Korea, China and Malaysia.

However, besides domestic resources, Vietnam also has to import a large amount of materials for the industry.

In the first nine months of this year, Vietnam imported US$827 million worth of timber, down 31%.

(VNA)