The Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of HCM City (Hawa) reported that woodwork export turnover in May 2023 decreased by 13.9 percent compared with the same period last year to $1.2 billion, and decreased by 27.3 percent in the first five months of the year to $5.1 billion.

At a conference held recently about BIFA Wood Vietnam, an international machine and timber material trade fair, the chair of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association (Vifores), Do Xuan Lap, commented that Vietnam’s woodwork industry is undergoing a crisis.

The woodwork export turnover to the US, the major market of Vietnam, in April 2023 dropped by 32.2 percent compared with April 2022 to $633.5 million. In the first four months of the year, the export value dropped by 39.5 percent to $2 billion only.

As for the Japanese market, in the first three months of the year, the country’s woodwork imports dropped by 16 percent in quantity and 4.8 percent in value compared with the same period last year. The country imports wooden products mostly from China, Vietnam and Malaysia.

The decline in major export markets is worrisome to Vietnamese wooden furniture manufacturers, and seeking new markets is one of the best solutions for now. Hawa, together with its member companies, is carrying out trade promotion activities to access potential markets. They are eyeing the UAE market.

An online workshop to learn about opportunities to export products to the Middle East was organized some days ago. Truong Xuan Trung from Vietnam’s Trade Office in UAE said UAE is a market with potential. Most of the wooden products and interior decoration products in the UAE are imports, while the country is gathering strength on construction and urban area development. The demand for interior decoration products for new buildings and high-end villas is very high.

Tran Chung