AsemconnectVietnam - Wood processing and export businesses in the southern province of Binh Duong have been making every effort to overcome difficulties facing the industry.

Statistics showed that the province raked in 1.5 billion USD from exporting wood and wooden products in the first four months of 2023, down 38.5% year-on-year.

In the context that major export markets of Vietnam such as the US and Europe have large inventories, and purchasing power has decreased sharply, Vietnamese wood exporters have continued to face negative growth.

Recently, Truong Thanh Wood Industries JSC reported that its revenue and profit in the first quarter of 2023 reached 331 billion VND (over 14 million USD) and 1.8 billion VND respectively, down 38% and 90% compared to the same period last year.

In 2023, the company plans to increase the capacity of all factories in Binh Duong. It is improving production processes at all stages to stop activities that do not add value to customers but increase production chain costs.

Meanwhile, Thuan An Wood Processing JSC said it is focusing on seeking orders, proactively negotiating with customers to reduce product prices, and minimising costs to create products with competitive prices.

Chairman of the Binh Duong Furniture Association Nguyen Liem attributed the situation to the decrease in domestic and international orders, and the inferior trade promotion of the wood industry.

Many businesses have strived to maintain operations without profits with the hope of overcoming this difficult period, he said.

However, the export picture of the province’s wood industry is forecast to be brighter by the end of 2023.

Nguyen Thanh Toan, Director of the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, said the local authorities are concentrating on solutions to expand export markets, including seeking orders from India, Europe, China, and the Middle East, and other regions.

The department and relevant sectors have worked hard on supporting the business community in effectively harnessing benefits from relevant free trade agreements, he added.

Toan advised businesses to proactively learn about information, mechanisms and policies; conduct market research; and pay attention to improving and controlling the quality of products to satisfy requirements and regulations of import markets.

Enterprises need to coordinate with trade promotion organisations to develop plans to take the advantage of opportunities from FTAs, thus further boosting their exports, he stressed.

Binh Duong has the largest concentrated export wood industry in the country. The province set a goal to lift its wood export turnover to 9-10 billion USD by 2025 and 12-13 billion USD by 2030. To that end, Binh Duong will build nine industrial clusters specialised in wood processing with an area of 70-75 ha each.
Source: Vietnamplus.vn