VNHN - Vietnam’s export of wood and wood-based products is projected to reach US$8.85 billion in 2018, up over US$1 billion from the 2017 record of US$7.7 billion.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade made the forecast based on strong growth of the sector in the past 10 month.
Timber and wood products earned the country over US$7.22 billion between January and October, increasing 15.6 percent against the same period last year.
Importing nearly US$3.12 billion worth of Vietnamese wood and wood-based products, the United States was Vietnam's biggest export market in the period.
Also between January and October, Vietnam spent nearly US$1.9 billion importing wood and woodwork products, translating into a trade surplus of over US$5.35 billion, an annual increase of nearly US$1 billion.
Trade surplus of timber goods was ranked second among key Vietnamese agricultural exports during the period, only behind that of aquatic products, which recorded over US$5.8 billion.
Nguyen Ton Quyen, General Secretary of the Association of Vietnam Timber and Forest Product, said the last three months of a year are always the peak time for forestry exports.
He unveiled that almost all enterprises in the sector have now secured enough export orders for the rest of the year, mostly from the US, EU, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and China./.
