Covid-19, despite the difficulties brought by the 2021 COVID-19, the amount of timber processing and export in Vietnam in 2021 still exceeded the expected target. It is the driving force for the continuous growth of wood processing and export industry in 2022, which is expected to increase by more than 20% over 2021.
According to the Vietnam timber and Forest Products Association, in 2021, under the favorable conditions of the formal entry into force of the Vietnam UK free trade agreement, Vietnam's timber processing and export industry increased the export of timber and wood products to the market, with an export volume of US $5.24 billion, an increase of more than 15% over 2020.
Mr. Xie Huangling, director of the European and American market department of the Ministry of industry and trade of Vietnam, said that for Vietnam, the UK is Vietnam's sixth largest export market in the world and the fourth largest export market in Europe and America. However, at present, Vietnamese goods exported to the UK market account for only 1% of the total goods imported by the UK from other countries. Therefore, the UK still has a lot of export space for Vietnam's wood processed products and even agricultural products.
According to the statistics of Vietnam's General Administration of customs, Vietnam's exports of wood and wood products to the Americas reached US $9.3 billion in 2021, an increase of 22% over 2020, and the export to the US market alone reached US $8.7 billion, an increase of more than 22% compared with 2021. Followed by the Asian market, reaching US $4.4 billion, an increase of 16%. In particular, the rapid growth of the American market has promoted Vietnam's wood processing and export industry to achieve gratifying results.
According to the response of countries around the world to the epidemic, economists predict that the global economy will gradually recover and show a growth trend in 2022. With the increase of commodity consumption in various countries, Vietnam will also attract more foreign investment. In addition, the initiative in production technology and wood import will become the driving force of Vietnam's wood processing and export activities.