Wooden furniture exports from Southeast Asian markets to Australia grew sharply in the past year, with Viet Nam leading the way on US$205.6 million, up 26.4 per cent year-on-year.

Following Viet Nam is Malaysia with $101.9 million and Indonesia with $61.7 million.

The proportion of wooden furniture imports from these three markets accounted for 22.9 per cent of the total value of wooden furniture imports into Australia.

The Import-Export Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade, quoted statistics from the General Department of Customs saying that the export value of wooden office furniture reached $28.4 million in December, a year-on-year decline of 28.6 per cent.

The export value of wooden office furniture reached $370.3 million last year, down 15.9 per cent over the same period in 2021.

In the structure of wooden furniture exports last year, office furniture is the item with the strongest decline because exports to major markets such as the US, Japan, China and the UK plummeted.

Office furniture exports were the largest to the US market last year, reaching $225.4 million, down 13.6 per cent over the previous year.

Export value to the US accounted for 60.9 per cent total export value of office furniture, followed by the Japanese market with $67.7 million; the Chinese market with $15.9 million; and the UK with $13.6 million.

High inflation has made consumers prioritise spending on food and essential goods, thereby cutting spending on office furniture.

In addition, high freight rates, along with a sharp rising in the purchase price of raw wood, increased production costs, making it more difficult for Vietnamese office furniture manufacturers.

The Import-Export Department said that the export prospect of wooden office furniture would also not be positive this year when the global economic situation was forecasted to continue to face many difficulties.

However, statistics from the International Trade Center (ITC) show that Australia's imports of wooden furniture reached $1.6 billion in the 11 months of last year, a year-on-year growth of 4.9 per cent.

The Import-Export Department said that even though Australia was one of the most demanding markets in the world with many certification requirements, high product quality standards, and strict import processes, its consumers had a high standard of living and were willing to pay for high-priced imported items if they were satisfied with the product.

Therefore, to penetrate the Australian market, exporters needed to give top priority to product quality instead of price, said the department, while, understanding customer tastes and focusing on building a solid brand for wooden furniture products. — VNS