The export revenue of timber and woodwork products is projected to reach US$7.4 billion, $200 million less than the target set for the sector this year. — Photo tienphong.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The export revenue of timber and woodwork products is projected to reach US$7.4 billion, $200 million less than the target set for the sector this year. 

Statistics from the Vietnam Wood and Forestry Products Association (Viforest) revealed that the figure inched slightly down by 0.1 percent to $3.17 billion in the first half of 2016, compared with the same period last year. 

The decrease was a result of a significant drop in the export turnover of chipboard, Viforest, Vice Chairman Nguyen Ton Quyen said.

According to Quyen, Vietnam ships between 3.4 and 4 million tonnes of chipboard overseas every year, on average, bringing in approximately $850 million. With the issue of Circular 182/2015/TT-BTC, which adjusted the export tariff on chipboard from zero percent to two percent as of January 1, 2016, sales of the product have become gloomy. In the north alone, some one million tonnes of chipboard remain unsold. 

Another reason for the export reduction was an annual fall in the quantity of outdoor wooden furniture that is mostly exported to the European Union, Quyen said. 

He added that Brexit would have little impact on the quantity of Vietnamese woodwork products to the United Kingdom, but would drag down export prices by between 5 and 7 percent due to the depreciation of related currencies. 

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Viet Nam's total export value of wooden products reached $7.1 billion in 2015, 8 percent higher than 2014. 

Wooden chairs, bedroom, outdoor and office furniture constitute the four key export categories. The three largest export markets for the commodities are the United States, Japan and China, accounting for almost 68 percent of the total export value. — VNS