Forest product exports increase by more than 20% over the same period in 2023

In the report on the results of the first 6 months of 2024, the Department of Forestry (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) said that the export value of forest products in the first half of 2024 is estimated at USD 7.95 billion, an increase of 21.2% over the same period of 2023 and reaching 52.3% of the plan.

Some main markets increased sharply, such as the United States reaching USD 4.38 billion, up 27.6% over the same period in 2023; China reached USD 1.059 billion, an increase of 46.6%.

The industry's trade surplus in the first 6 months of 2024 is estimated to reach USD 6.664 billion, up 21.6% over the same period. The largest export surplus is for wood and wood products, which total about USD 6.16 billion, an increase of 22.5%.

In the opposite direction, the import value of wood and wood products in the first 6 months of 2024 is estimated to reach USD 1.29 billion, up 19% over the same period in 2023.

From now until the end of the year, the Forestry Department will continue to organize and implement tasks and solutions for sustainable development of the wood processing industry and exported forest products; coordinate in preventing commercial fraud; closely follow and build operating scenarios for export and import of wood and forest products to ensure the achievement of planned targets in 2024; Replicate successful affiliate models.

At the same time, the payment policy for forest environmental services should be implemented effectively, the implementation of carbon absorption and storage services should be promoted, and the forest carbon credit market should be developed.

Besides positive results from forest product exports, the tasks of forest development and forest product exploitation are also positive. Specifically, new concentrated forest planting is estimated at 125,500 hectares, reaching 51.2% of the plan, an increase of 1.2% over the same period. The whole industry is estimated to plant about 245,000 hectares for the entire year.

The number of scattered trees planted nationwide is about 44.6 million, an increase of 2.9% over the same period in 2023. The Department of Forestry forecasts that by 2024, the country can plant 130 million trees.

After 6 months, concentrated exploitation of planted forests is estimated to reach 9.93 million m3, an increase of 6.3% over the same period last year. Firewood output is estimated to reach 7.87 million ste, equivalent to the same period in 2023.

In the first 6 months of the year, forest environmental service revenue nationwide is about VND 1,521.16 billion. In particular, revenue from 4 types of forest ecological services specified in Decree No. 156/2018/ND-CP (hydroelectricity production facilities, industrial production facilities, aquaculture facilities, and production activities). production and business causing significant greenhouse gas emissions) reached about VND 1,281.58 billion, equivalent to 39.3% of the 2024 revenue plan.

In addition, revenue from ERPA under Decree No.107/2022/ND-CP paid to the 6 North Central provinces from the World Bank is VND 239.58 billion.

In particular, units in the forestry sector have coordinated to implement on schedule, ensuring the quality of developing Decrees and Circulars under the 2024 plan. Notably, advising the Government to promulgate Decree No. 04/ND-CP dated January 12, 2024, on arranging, innovating, developing, and improving the operational efficiency of agricultural and forestry companies and Decree No. 58/ND-CP dated May 24, 2024, on investment policy in forestry.

In the last six months of the year, the forestry sector continued to closely follow the progress of developing legal documents, Programs, and projects such as the Project to improve forest quality to preserve forest ecosystems and prevent and combat natural disasters by 2030, Project to develop multi-use values ​​of forest ecosystems by 2030, vision by 2050.

At the same time, implement Conclusion No. 61 of the Secretariat and the Sustainable Forestry Development Program for the period 2021 - 2025; Effectively deploy policies on payments for forest environmental services, promote the implementation of carbon absorption and storage services, and develop the carbon credit market; Promote biodiversity conservation activities, ecotourism, and sustainable use of the forest environment.

Commenting on the opportunity to expand market share internationally, the Vietnam Timber & Forest Products Association (VIFORES) believes that the fiscal space is still large, especially for the leading export product group, wooden furniture. According to statistics from the International Trade Center (ITC), in the period 2019 - 2022, the world furniture market (HS code 94) reached an average of USD 553 billion per year, Of which the demand for importing wooden furniture reached USD 75 billion, while Vietnam's wooden furniture export turnover only accounted for less than 10% of the market share. In addition, Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) ratified by Vietnam continue to be a driving force and favorable opportunity for the wood industry to grow.