Exporting nearly 11 billion USD, wood enterprises work overtime, recruit workers

Business optimism

Sharing with PV.VietNamNet, the leader of a wooden furniture export company in Binh Dinh admitted that in the early stages of this year, the company had almost no export orders and had to operate at a standstill. Therefore, the company had to reduce salaries and temporarily lay off most of its workers, while the rest also took turns taking leave.

However, since the beginning of the third quarter, the company has signed new orders. Not as many as during the prosperous period, but orders have reached 70-80% compared to the same period in previous years.

“This is a good sign, allowing businesses to maintain production activities in the last months of this year and early next year.” This leader said that because of orders, two-thirds of the workers who were temporarily laid off have now returned to work.

According to Mr. Le Van Luong, Director of Dai Thanh Wood Technology Joint Stock Company, the production situation has started to improve compared to the beginning of the year. The company is optimistic as customers have returned and informed about the amount of goods they plan to order in the near future.

“Orders are returning to the wood processing export industry in Binh Dinh, but the quantity is not large. Importers also have strict requirements on shortening delivery time and changing designs,” said Mr. Le Minh Thien - Chairman of the Binh Dinh Wood and Forest Products Association.

Mr. Nguyen Chanh Phuong, Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Handicraft and Wood Processing Association, also said that members received more positive interactions from purchasing partners. Some businesses with new orders have started to organize workers to work overtime again, or recruit more workers.

In recent months, the amount of wood imported by businesses has increased by 5-10%. According to Mr. Phuong, this is a signal that businesses are preparing raw materials for year-end orders.

Preliminary statistics from the General Department of Customs show that in October this year, wood and wood product exports reached 1.2 billion USD, up 5.7% over the previous month, but still down slightly by 0.9% over October last year.

In the first 10 months of 2023, wood and wood product exports earned 10.8 billion USD. Although still down 19.9% compared to the same period in 2022, by the end of October this year, wood and wood product exports were the only commodity group in the agricultural sector with an export turnover of over 10 billion USD.

Currently, America and Asia are still the main markets, accounting for 56.4% and 37.2% of the total export value of the wood industry, respectively.

Notably, in the third quarter of 2023, the export value of this group of goods reached 3.6 billion USD, an increase of 10% compared to the second quarter of 2023. This is also the second consecutive quarter that the export of wood and wood products increased compared to the previous quarter. This shows that the export market is gradually recovering.

wood export 1.gif — Orders return to wood businesses (Photo: TL)

Positive change

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien said that the export market in the last months of the year is showing positive signs. Meanwhile, the VND15,000 billion credit package to support enterprises in the forestry and fishery sectors has disbursed about half. He said that this support package will help enterprises quickly restore production when receiving new export orders.

In recent months, the export turnover of wood and wood products has recovered, compared to the same period last year, it is still negative growth but the decrease is gradually decreasing. According to Deputy Minister Tien, with this recovery momentum, wood exports continue to play an important role in helping the agricultural sector achieve the export target of 53-55 billion USD this year.

This year, our country's wood and wood product exports are estimated to reach about 13.6-14 billion USD.

Although this figure is down from the record of nearly 17 billion USD in 2022, industry experts say that wood industry businesses are making positive changes.

For many years, businesses have often received orders through intermediaries, meaning customers come to them themselves. However, during the recent difficult period, businesses have been more proactive in finding customers from traditional markets, niche markets, and even finding customers in the domestic market.

In fact, there are businesses that, after waiting for orders for half a year but without any, have proactively participated in exhibitions and fairs. As a result, they signed new orders and stabilized production until the end of the year.

From a passive to a proactive position, in the long run, businesses will clearly see market trends, approach and have a more abundant source of customers, and move towards expanding export markets, wood industry experts believe.

Gloomy wood exports to the US and EU Many businesses exporting wood products to the US, EU, and UK are facing difficulties due to local people cutting back on spending. Some wood businesses have lost all export revenue.

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