A worker checks furniture products at Tài Phước Co., Ltd. in Phú Tài Industrial Park in the central coastal province of Bình Định. — VNA/VNS Photo Vũ Sinh

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s wood exports have increased over the last few years and are expected to reach a new record in 2021.

The export turnover of wood and wood products has seen an average increase of 15.4 per cent per year in the 2017-2020 period, or US$1.35 billion, even greater than the total turnover of many items.

The export turnover of wood and wood products reached approximately $3.7 billion in the first quarter of this year, up 41.5 per cent, nearly double the growth rate of the total export turnover of the country at 22 per cent.

It is expected the export turnover of wood will surpass the $14.8 billion milestone, an increase of nearly 20 per cent, or $2.4 billion compared to the previous year.

Export turnover of wood and wood products is the sixth largest among Vietnamese export sectors. Wood and wood products are also the items with the largest trade surplus, contributing to improving the trade balance.

This sector has achieved such great results due to many factors, including the rate of forest cover being kept at around 42 per cent. Every year, the concentrated afforestation area is over 260,000 hectares.

These are among the factors to protect and improve the environment, as well as a fundamental factor to create jobs, reduce poverty rates in the mountainous and midland provinces, and as a source of raw materials for wood processing industry and wood export.

The amount of annual exploited wood has increased, surpassing 10 million cubic metres in 2015 and 16 million cubic metres in 2019.

Exploited wood grew by 33.9 per cent last year compared to 2016, an average annual increase of 7.6 per cent, or 1.07 million cubic metres.

In terms of market, the US is the largest export market, accounting for 60.4 per cent of Việt Nam's total wood export turnover, followed by China with 9.9 per cent, Japan 9.5 per cent, and South Korea 5.7 per cent. These four markets alone account for 85.5 per cent of the total.

In terms of production capacity, excluding individuals, production groups and cooperatives, Việt Nam currently has nearly 12,000 enterprises, with about 500,000 employees and VNĐ320 trillion (nearly $14 billion) of production-business capital over VNĐ120 trillion in value of fixed assets, and nearly VNĐ360 trillion in net revenue. — VNS