Vietnam replaces China to become number one in exporting wooden furniture to the US

It has been a long time since China became the leader in exporting wooden furniture to the US. But in 2020, Vietnamese wooden furniture has usurped the Chinese’s throne in this market.

According to the official figures of the United States International Trade Commission (USITC), in the first 11 months of 2020, America’s importation of wooden furnitures has reached 16.8 billion dollars, 0.6% lower compared to the same period in 2019.

Vietnam is the largest wooden furniture supply market to America in the first 11 months of 2020, earning US$ 6.26 billion, 30.9% higher in comparison to the same period last year.

Wooden furnitures imported from Vietnam accounted for 37.2% of total US import value of wooden furniture. Therefore, this is the first time for Vietnam’s wooden furniture to occupy the number one position in the US.

Previously, this position belonged to Chinese wooden furniture. In the first 11 months of 2019, wooden furniture imported from China accounted for 34.6% in the US market, while Vietnam's wooden furniture accounted for 28.3%, ranked second.

Due to the influence from the trade tension between the US and China, the value of imported wooden furniture from China into the US decreased sharply, reaching only 3.84 billion USD in the first 11 months of 2020, 34.3% lower compared to the same period in 2019, which accounted for 22.9%. As a result, Chinese wooden furniture had to drop to the second rank in the US market, ceding the number one position for Vietnamese wooden furniture.

In the structure of imported wooden furniture in the first 11 months of 2020, US only increased the importation for bedroom and kitchen furnitures. To be specific, bedroom furniture imports reached 3.3 billion USD, 0.4% higher compared with the same period in the previous year. Vietnam is the biggest bedroom furniture supply market for America, with the value equaled to 49.7% of the total import value.

In the first 11 months of 2020, US sharply increased its kitchen furniture imports from Vietnam and Malaysia, reaching 410.8 million USD and 350 million USD accordingly, making a raise of 450.8% and 696.6% compared to the same period in the year before.

In accordance with the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, in 2021 the housing market in this country will reach 1,134 million houses, 1,165 million in 2022 and 1,210 million in the year 2023.

The housing market strong growth has led to the demand for housing furniture in 2021 and the coming years. This is a big oportunity for wooden furniture supply markets, including Vietnam.