The US is a top export market for Vietnamese wood products and has contributed to the success of Vietnam’s exports in the first 10 months of 2019. In October, the export value of wood products for the US market was US$547 million, up 41% compared to October 2018 and this accounted for more than 50% of the total export value for the month.
Another important export market of Vietnamese wood and wood furniture is China. Vietnam is one of the biggest suppliers of wood and wooden furniture to the Chinese market, together with Italy and Poland.
In the first 9 months of 2019, China’s imports from these three markets accounted for 48% of total wooden furniture imports.
Japan wood product imports from Vietnam in the first 10 months of 2019 were up 19% over the same period in 2018. There was a surge in Japan’s demand for furniture from Vietnam before Japan’s consumption tax increased to 10% from October 2019. In addition, timber enterprises in Japan have benefitted from the Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement.