Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam has enjoyed a surge intimber and wood product exports to the US this year, but businesses need to choosethe right items to focus on in order to tap into this major market, insiderssaid.

The export of timber and forest products broughthome some 8.97 billion USD in the first nine months of 2020, up 12 percent yearon year. The revenue includes 8.38 billion USD worth of timber and woodproducts, rising 11.2 percent, according to the Vietnam Administration ofForestry under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Growth has been recorded in timber and woodproduct exports to most large markets like the US, China, the Republic of Korea,Canada, and Australia.

Notably, shipments to the US surpassed 4.19billion USD in the first eight months, up 27.4 percent from a year earlier.This market accounted for 55.1 percent of total timber and wood productexports, representing a year-on-year increase of 7.2 percentage points,statistics show.

The Vietnam Timber and Forest ProductAssociation (Vifores) pointed out that so far this year, while office andbedroom furniture exports have dropped compared to the same period last year,overseas shipments of kitchen and bathroom furniture have been on the rise.

Vifores Chairman Do Xuan Lap explained that itemswith strong export growth benefit from the US anti-dumping and anti-subsidyduties on the Chinese ones, which have encouraged US firms to switch to Vietnamto partly make up for supply shortages.

Nguyen Liem, Chairman of the Lam Viet JSC’sBoard of Directors, said COVID-19 has given a boost to the wood industry,especially kitchen cupboard and bathroom cabinet sales as people spend moretime staying at home amidst the pandemic and thus, have more demand for houserepairs and furniture.

The wood industry of Vietnam now has a number ofadvantages in the US market, but risks are also relatively high since this is abig market with stringent actions against tax evasion and trade fraud, he said.

Timber and wood product exports are predicted tohit 12.5 billion USD this year thanks to the sharp rise in sales to the US andthe peak export season that falls in the final months of the year.

Lap said kitchen cupboards and bathroom cabinetsare the sector’s strategic products for the time ahead. They generated nearly 1billion USD in export turnover between January and September, shooting up over80 percent year on year.

The supply chains of these items were notdisrupted during the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak, he added.

However, the Vifores Chairman held thatbusinesses’ moves have yet to match one another’s, suggesting them fine-tunestrategies and improve competitiveness to join in supply chains so as to exportmore to the US.

Instead of manufacturing many products at atime, they should focus on certain items in demand, Lap recommended.

Vifores is set to establish a sub-associationfor kitchen cupboards, bathroom cabinets and decorative planks in November witha view to forming a widespread network of producers of strategic commodities sosupply for strategic markets./.