Vietnam targets raising the export value of wood and timber products to $18 billion in 2025 from $16.25 billion last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). The target was set with markets like the US, China, Japan, South Korea, and the European Union all recovering, thereby boosting purchasing power.

The production and export of the timber and wooden product sector has already been bustling since the turn of the year, according to some company leaders.

Tran Lam Son, CEO of Thien Minh Furniture Company, said orders, mainly from the EU and the US, have increased massively since the middle of the last quarter.

“Customers require accelerated delivery to meet the increased demand during the spring-summer shopping season of 2025, so manufacturers like our company must continuously work overtime to keep up with the schedule,” Son said.

“Transport often accounts for a large part of the production cost, thus, to maximise costs and efficiency, the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City has recently gathered export enterprises, counted output from each market, negotiated freight rates with shipping lines to get the best prices, and increased competitiveness for Vietnamese wooden furniture and interiors,” Son continued. “If there are no unexpected fluctuations, the wooden furniture and interiors industry can continue to achieve export growth of 20 per cent, and many enterprises have even set a growth target of 20-30 per cent.”

Huynh Thanh Van, chairman of the board at S Furniture Company, believes that setting the industry’s export turnover goal of over $18 billion for this year is feasible.

“Currently, the order signals of enterprises have also shown to be much more positive than in 2024. Particularly for S Furniture, we expect to get growth of 25-30 per cent in export value in 2025,” Van said.

“To meet the needs of importers from the US, EU, and UK, manufacturers must achieve certificates such as BSCI, SMETA, or FSC, which are for regulations and standards when exporting goods to demanding markets. If these standards are not achieved, the opportunity to export goods to this very potential market will be lost,” added Van.

According to the MARD’s Department of Forestry, in 2024 the US was the largest market for wood and wood products in Vietnam, accounting for over half of the market share. China and Japan are the next two largest markets. Compared to the same period last year, the export value of wood and wood products to the US and China markets both grew strongly, at double digits. The Japanese market only increased slightly.

Of the 15 main export markets, the export value of wood and wood products increased the most in Spain, with an increase of over 63 per cent. In addition, certain export products increased well, such as wood chips (up nearly 38 per cent), as well as timber and wood products (up over 20 per cent).

An MBS Research report, published in early January, showed that the strong recovery of the US market will be a factor encouraging the robust growth of timber and wooden products exports this year. Projected US Federal Reserve interest rate cuts in 2025 will decrease 30-year mortgage rates, thereby revitalising the US housing market and driving demand for wood and related products.

Furthermore, MBS Research anticipates that the new administration’s tax policies could support long-term growth in Vietnam’s wooden product exports as US consumers shift their preferences.

Phung Quoc Man, chairman of the HAWA, said, “The global furniture market is valued at more than $516 billion, while the export of Vietnamese enterprises is only $16 billion. This indicates that the industry has a lot of room for development, but competition will also be fierce.”

The current issue is to continue to encourage links and cooperation to exploit the potential and advantages of each region of Vietnam to create a closed furniture supply chain, capable of conquering the world market, Man said.

Tran Quang Bao, director general of the Department of Forestry, aims to promote Vietnam’s Timber Legality Assurance System, strengthen links across the supply chain from forest growers to processing and export enterprises, and support businesses in engaging in international trade fairs to both secure contracts and boost Vietnamese wood products.

“The green factor will be one of the major impacts on Vietnam’s wood export trends in the long run, when many regulations of the markets are being implemented and enforced, such as the EU’s Deforestation Regulation or the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism,” Bao said.