According to Vietnam Wood and Forest Products Association, in 2020, export turnover of wood and wood products was 12.37 billion USD; 14.8 billion USD in 2021; 16 billion USD in 2022 and 13.37 billion USD in 2023.
In 2021, export of wood and wood products with FSC certification were 188.01 million USD, accounting for 1.3% of total export turnover of wood and wood products; In 2022, Vietnam's export of wood and wood products with FSC certification were 267.78 million USD, accounting for 1.7%, an increase of 42.4% compared to 2021; In May 11, 2023, Vietnam exported wood and wood products with FSC certification reached 226.85 million USD, accounting for 2%.
Vietnam increases export of wood and wood products with FSC certification. Numbers of enterprises with FSC COC certification as of December 1, 2023 were 1,654 businesses.
According to Vietnam Wood and Forest Products Association, Vietnam has two sources of wood materials with FSC certification to serve wood processing industry for export and domestic consumption, including imported wood materials and from domestic planted forests.
Import turnover of wood and wood products with FSC certification accounts for a small proportion. In 2022, Vietnam spent 66.61 million USD for FSC wood out of 3 billion USD turnover of imported wood and wood products, accounting for 2.2%.
An area of forests in Vietnam with FSC certification has been increasing in recent years. By the end of December 2023, FSC certified forest area is about 282,960 hectares, accounting for about 64% of the total planted forest area in Vietnam.
However, according to Mr. Tran Le Huy - Vice President and General Secretary of Binh Dinh Timber and Forest Products Association - currently supply of FSC wood from planted forests in the country is still limited. FSC products mainly focus on furniture, pellets and pulp.
“Domestic wood sources are not enough for needs of export wooden furniture production and do not have FSC-FM certification; while according to requirements of Europe and the United States, 70% of materials must be FSC certified and the remaining 30% must be sourced wood," Mr. Tran Le Huy shared.
Vietnam is a major exporter of wood and wood products in the world. Buyers' decisions regarding legal sourcing of wood materials and requirements for FSC-certified wood are impacting entire supply chain.
Currently, in some developed countries around the world, FSC is a mandatory certification if enterprises want to export wood products to the consumer market. Therefore, in order for Vietnamese wood products to have a position in the market, especially targeting large markets, they need to change right now.
Sharing at the 2023 FSC Asia Business Conference taking place in mid-December 2023, a representative of Costco - the third largest retailer in the world with many different products including wood and other products said that wood, paper, and fiber products will have a certain impact on the ecosystem, so we try to provide quality products with stable prices and trade in products with FSC certification.
Similarly, as a large retailer in the US market - a representative of Wiiliam Sonam Inc said that the business also set a new goal that by 2025, 50% of the company's products on shelves will be certified FSC.
By collaborating and participating in supply chain, Wiiliam Sonam Inc is trying to increase awareness and responsible consumption of products. On other hand, this is also a way for businesses to boost exports to the EU market.
In Vietnam, many businesses have invested in FSC wood material areas to anticipate market opportunities. Hoa Phat, one of the companies that strongly develop FSC wood areas, through association with afforestation households, develops an output of 15,000 tons/year, with a strong focus on wood from rubber and teak plantation forests.
The wood industry is aiming to develop legal raw materials, in order to implement commitments and actions for the Government's net zero goal by 2050 at the COP26 Conference. In addition to requirements from major export markets, the use of legal wood, rather than certified wood, is direction of sustainable, long-term development of Vietnam's wood industry.
According to Ms. Vu Thi Que Anh - FSC representative in Vietnam, businesses need to improve their capacity and update FSC's new standards and guidelines and market trends, to ensure raw material sources at suitable prices. Integrity and supply chain integrity ensure traceability.
Formation of chain links will contribute to ensuring raw material sources for production, meeting requirements of large export markets such as the EU, North America, and Japan with increasingly high requirements for traceability of wood such as European Union Anti-Deforestation Regulations (EUDR) and FSC certification.
To meet increasing demand for certified wood products, Ms. Vu Thi Que Anh said that it is necessary to have more involvement from the Government, ministries, branches and localities, especially export wood enterprises in balancing between processing capacity and planted forest material areas.

Source: Vitic/ congthuong.vn