According to Mr. Nguyen Quoc Tri, Director of the General Department of Forestry, in 2021 the wood industry achieved spectacular achievements, setting an export record of 14.5 billion USD, an increase of 18% compared to 2020. In the first months of 2022, export of wood and wood products continued to grow very positively, with the first 5 months of the year reaching approximately 7 billion USD, up 4.6% over the same period of 2021.

However, in recent months, wooden furniture exports have been on a downward trend. Specifically, in May 2022, the export value of wood and wood products reached 1.38 billion USD, down 4.1% over the same period in 2021.

Notably, while the main export items decreased slightly, the exports of items such as wood chips; wood, planks and flooring; Wooden door; fine-art furniture saw a positive growth in the first 6 months of 2022. However, as wooden furniture accounts for a large proportion of the total export turnover of wood and wood products, the growth of these items does not compensate for the difficulties in exporting wooden furniture. Wood furniture exports to the US and China both fell sharply.

According to analysis by the Association of Vietnam Timber and Forest Product (Vifores), Vietnam is the third largest exporter of wooden furniture to China. However, wooden furniture exports to China in the first months of this year fell sharply, with a decrease of more than 21%. The impact of the pandemic situation and the “Zero Covid” policy in China makes it very difficult for furniture businesses to clear wooden furniture at border gates both on land and at Chinese seaports.