Source: Vneconomy.vn
According to the Department of Forestry (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), in the first half of 2024, wood and forest product exports earned 7.95 billion USD, up 21.2% over the same period in 2023 and reaching 52.3% of the year’s plan. Some major markets increased sharply such as: the United States reached 4.38 billion USD, up 27.6% over the same period in 2023; China reached 1.059 billion USD, up 46.6%.
On the other hand, the import value of wood and wood products in the first 6 months of 2024 is estimated at 1.29 billion USD, an increase of 19% over the same period in 2023.
THE USA IS STILL THE LARGEST MARKET FOR VIETNAMESE WOOD EXPORTS
Analyzing further the wood export market, Mr. Ngo Sy Hoai, Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (Viforest), said that the United States is still the largest market for Vietnam’s wood and forest product exports.
Specifically, in the first 6 months of 2024, the export turnover of wood and wood products to the United States reached 4.38 billion USD, accounting for 55% of the total export turnover of the whole industry. Since the beginning of the year, wood and wood products exported to the US market have grown strongly, showing that demand is recovering rapidly in this market.
Of which, wooden furniture is the main export item to the United States, which is also an item that brings high added value to the wood industry. In the first 6 months of 2024, the export value of wooden furniture to the United States reached 3.45 billion USD, an increase of 30% over the same period in 2023. Most wooden furniture items exported to the United States grew positively. Next is the export of wood, board and flooring products reaching 323 million USD, an increase of 94% over the same period in 2023.
For China, Vietnam’s exports of wood and wood products to this market also grew very strongly. Specifically, in the first 6 months of 2024, it reached more than 1 billion USD, an increase of up to 46.6% over the same period. In particular, the proportion of China’s office furniture imports from Vietnam increased very strongly, accounting for 24.7% of the total import value of China’s office furniture.
Meanwhile, according to statistics from the China Customs Administration, the country’s wooden furniture imports in the first half of this year decreased by 15.1% compared to the same period in 2023. China reduced its wooden furniture imports from most major supply markets, such as Italy, which is the largest source of wooden furniture for China, down 10.5% compared to the same period in 2023, accounting for 49.8% of China’s total import value.
Next was Germany, down 22.1%. Vietnam surpassed Thailand to become the third largest source of wooden furniture in China’s total furniture imports in the first half of this year.
Notably, the import proportion of wooden furniture products from China to Vietnam is low, so there is still much room for businesses to exploit this market in the coming time.
Regarding the plan for the last months of the year, the Department of Forestry said it will continue to organize and implement tasks and solutions for the sustainable development of the wood processing and export forest products industry; coordinate in preventing trade fraud; closely follow and develop scenarios for the management of wood and forest product import and export to ensure the achievement of the 2024 plan targets. Replicating successful linkage models.
RISKS FROM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LAWSUITS
According to the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) has recently officially announced the application of new regulations on trade defense for goods imported into this market. This is raising concerns about difficulties for export enterprises, which will have impacts on Vietnamese wood export enterprises.
Accordingly, DOC issued five notable new regulations on anti-dumping, anti-subsidy, and anti-circumvention investigations of imported goods into the US market.
The first, repeal the current provision that prevents the United States from conducting cross-border anti-subsidy investigations.
Monday, In addition, cases where the Government of the country subject to the anti-subsidy investigation omits or fails to collect fees, fines, or penalties that must be paid (e.g. wastewater treatment fees, fines for violating labor safety standards in factories, etc.) are also considered subsidies, because the Government should have requested payment, or should have taken action to collect those amounts.
Tuesday, supplementary provisions when selecting alternative countries to calculate anti-dumping margins for non-market economies (including Vietnam).
In the event that there is no suitable alternative value proposal from a country with an economy of equivalent development to Vietnam, DOC will use the alternative value of a country with a level of development that is not equivalent. Although, during the investigation process of DOC, Vietnam has equal rights to choose the alternative country, the final choice still belongs to DOC.
Wednesday, Supplement and specify the provisions on investigation in anti-dumping investigation cases, allowing DOC to use surrogate value to calculate dumping margin in the case.
Thursday, supplementary provisions on the decentralization of application of available adverse facts in anti-subsidy investigation cases.
Recently, the Vietnamese wood industry has faced anti-dumping and anti-dumping tax evasion lawsuits in the United States, especially tax evasion lawsuits targeting Vietnamese plywood and wooden cabinets.
With the new regulations, Mr. Ngo Sy Hoai commented that it will cause more difficulties for the Vietnamese wood industry, making Vietnamese wood products manufacturing enterprises exporting to the US market at higher risk of being sued in trade defense lawsuits.
Therefore, the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association recommends that wood industry enterprises need to diversify markets and export products; compete on quality instead of price. Wood products production needs to increase the use of wood materials from planted forests, produced domestically or from sources that are not subject to anti-dumping taxes by the United States.
