Vietnam's wood exports up 8.4% in first 2 months

Vietnam's export value of wood and timber products in the first two months of 2014 increased 8.4 percent year-on-year to reach 796 million U.S. dollars, according to Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) on Tuesday. During the period, the United States remained Vietnam's largest wood and timber product importer, importing 186.67-million-U.S. dollars worth of products, accounting for about 30 percent of Vietnam's total wood export revenue, said MARD. Major wood and timber products exported to the United States market included chairs, fir beds, tables and wardrobes, said the ministry. China was Vietnam's second largest importer of these products in the first two months, with imports worth 90.56 million U.S. dollars, up 60.3 percent year-on-year. Japan ranked the third with an import value of 67.76 million U. S. dollars, relatively unchanged from the same period of 2013, according to MARD. Nguyen Ton Quyen, general secretary of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association (Vifores) said on Vietnam News Daily on Tuesday that the country aimed to export a total 6.2 billion U.S. dollars' worth of wood and timber products in 2014, up nine percent year-on-year. The export outlook for the industry in 2014 was promising as local exporters have so far signed export contracts valued at more than three billion U.S. dollars, said Quyen. The Vifores official added that the signing of bilateral and multilateral agreements would create more favorable conditions for Vietnam's wood exports in 2014.