Hanoi (VNA) – Despite the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact,the wood industry still enjoyed 3.2 billion USD in exports in the first fourmonths of 2019, up 6 percent year on year, thanks to businesses’ efforts toswitch to online trading and find new markets.

During the period, about 7 percent of members ofthe Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City (HAWA) had tohalt operation while 51 percent cut output. About 45 percent of their employeeswere also laid off temporarily.

However, HAWA members still earned more than 1billion USD from timber and forestry product exports, rising by over 10 percentyear on year. Of the value, over 698,000 USD was from wood product shipments,up 5.8 percent from a year earlier.

Data from the Binh Dinh Department of Industryand Trade also shows that wood firms in the province also recorded ayear-on-year increase of 13 percent in exports to about 188 million USD in thefour months.

Chairman of the Binh Dinh Forest ProductsAssociation Le Minh Thien attributed the growth to a sudden surge in the salesof wood chips to China. Meanwhile, the export value of wooden furniture wasmaintained as businesses had already manufactured products in 2019 and focusedon exports right after the Lunar New Year holiday in late January.

Vietnam’s effective control of the COVID-19outbreak amid production suspension by rivals in other ASEAN countries, the EUand the US has also helped local firms receive more orders.

Besides, Thien noted, businesses have alsoproactively sought new orders from the Australian, EU and US markets whileimporters and exporters, along with producers and distributors, have discussedmutual support measures with one another.

President of the Vietnam Timber and ForestProduct Association (VIFOREST) Do Xuan Lap said he believes that the woodindustry can still record nearly-double-digit growth in 2020, adding that controllingthe pandemic will help turn the country into a magnet for global woodprocessors. Many Vietnamese enterprises are also actively restructuring theirproducts to adapt to changes in the market.

The output may decline in the second quarter,but it’s normal since orders usually drop by 30 percent during summer, he said.

According to Thien, the wood industry stillneeds to improve the quality of seedlings, expand the certified forests thatare specialised in timber production, and ensure legal supplies of inputmaterials. It is also necessary to promote wood processing, connectmanufacturers with firms in the support sector, develop production chains, helpcompanies improve their competitiveness and raise market shares in key exportdestinations, and diversify products.

VIFOREST recently coordinated with associations,producers and processors in the industry to devise solutions to sustainproduction activities, including advertising and selling products on theinternet and providing training in sales skills on big e-commerce platformslike Amazon and Alibaba./.