Vietnam’s timber and wood exports during the seven months of the year enjoyed a surge of 6.2% to US$6.09 billion against the same period last year, according to figures released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The reviewed period saw the United States, China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (RoK) remain as the country’s largest importers.  

Furthermore, July alone saw the nation rake in US$1.05 million from exporting timber and wood products after enduring negative growth in May as a result of the negative impact of the novel coronavirus epidemic.

Moreover, Vietnamese plywood has experienced robust growth over the past five years, recording average annual growth of 31%. Indeed, since 2015, 42 new foreign direct investment (FDI) projects have been poured into the local plywood industry, according to the Agro Processing and Market Development Authority (AgroTrade).

Despite Vietnamese plywood exports to the US and other major markets growing sharply in recent times, it also poses a range of possible risks of probes and anti-dumping lawsuits being launched by foreign markets.

This comes after the RoK’s Ministry of Economy and Finance recently imposed anti-dumping duties of 10.54% on plywood imported from the nation, while domestic plywood products are also facing an anti-circumvention investigation from the US Department of Commerce.

AgroTrade therefore stated that the local timber industry should strive to optimise a range of benefits brought about by the substantial reduction of import duties in line with the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, which took effect on August 1, as a means of increasing exports in the near future.