Concerns from the grassroots level

For the mountainous district of Con Cuong, a report on the state of forestry development at the end of 2023 showed that the total area of ​​planted timber forests in the district was 11,768.27 hectares. Of this, 5,655.01 hectares were mature forests, while 6,113.26 hectares were not yet mature forests. Forest planting has become a movement in the district, with an average of 2,000 hectares of concentrated acacia forests planted each year. Specifically, in 2022, 2,240 hectares of concentrated forests were planted; 114,020 cubic meters of timber from planted forests (equivalent to 86,655 tons), 10.1 million bamboo trees, and 15.12 million bamboo poles were harvested.

Despite the abundant timber resources, Con Cuong district has only one company, Con Cuong Forestry Co., Ltd., that produces veneer, supplying both its own raw materials and those of local residents. The company's processing volume is only about 4,500 tons per year, accounting for approximately 5% of the total timber harvested from planted forests in the area. Therefore, over 82,000 tons of planted forest timber, 10.1 million bamboo poles, and 15.12 million bamboo stalks are sold freely to traders annually by local people, without any company or organization signing cooperation agreements to secure market outlets for their products.

According to officials from the Economic and Infrastructure Department and the Agriculture Department of Con Cuong district, due to the relatively large amount of raw materials and the lack of a sufficiently strong unit to cooperate in fixed procurement from the people, there is a situation where businesses arbitrarily organize wood chipping activities in violation of regulations. In addition, some traders collaborate with local people to set up weighing stations to facilitate the harvesting, purchasing, and transportation of acacia wood. These officials also confirmed that after purchasing the acacia wood, most of it is transported to Thanh Hoa province for processing. “This is a reality we have surveyed. From the people's perspective, although they are pressured by traders, they still benefit somewhat, but from the State's perspective, the forestry sector has not contributed. Therefore, this is a problem that Con Cuong district hopes to find a solution for…” - Mr. Tran Anh Tuan, Head of the Economic and Infrastructure Department, People's Committee of Con Cuong district, stated.

According to Mr. Luong Dinh Viet, Standing Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee and Chairman of the District People's Council of Con Cuong District, the majority of Con Cuong District's area consists of forests and forestry land. Forest land has been allocated to the people for long-term management, protection, and use. Households have effectively transformed their crop structure, exploiting advantages by planting timber trees and greening barren hills and mountains. Despite the large area of ​​planted forests and high timber production, the number of timber purchasing and chipping facilities is still fragmented and few in number, and many have not been granted operating licenses, thus hindering the development of the local timber processing industry. Therefore, he suggested that attention should be paid to developing policies to promote the timber processing and chipping industry in the district.

Regarding the existence of an unlicensed wood chipping factory, the Chairman of the Nghia Binh Commune People's Committee, Nguyen Van Thang, stated that the authorities have issued three official reports and guided the factory through the necessary procedures to operate legally. However, he also pointed out a difficult situation: each time the Commune People's Committee issues an official report and orders the wood chipping factory to cease operations, residents come to the office to raise concerns.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Thang, Nghia Binh commune has over 1,500 hectares of forest land, including more than 900 hectares of production forest and about 600 hectares of protection forest. Of the 900 hectares of production forest, 100 hectares are natural forest, and the rest is planted with acacia trees. Because the people of Nghia Binh are self-sufficient in seedlings for specialized cultivation, the harvest value is quite high, reaching 120-130 million VND/hectare. Especially since the wood chipping factory was established, the people have solved the problem of product output, no longer having to sell through weighing stations to be transported to wood chipping factories in Thanh Hoa, thus facilitating harvesting, transportation, and increasing economic value. Therefore, the people in the area hope for the wood chipping factory to operate.

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Some residents even put pressure on the local authorities, questioning why things that should be removed aren't being removed.(sand mining - PV)"But what is necessary to help people plant trees is being driven away, not allowed to exist? This is a question that the local government cannot answer..."

Mr. Nguyen Van Thang

In Chau Dinh commune (Quy Hop district), there are two wood chipping workshops operating in violation of regulations. Both workshops have installed machinery and are chipping wood within the land managed by the 3rd Youth Volunteer Brigade. As the Commander of the Provincial Youth Volunteer Force, directly in charge of the 3rd Youth Volunteer Brigade, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Thang affirmed that all cases of workshops operating illegally on land under the management of the Youth Volunteer Brigade have been dealt with.

However, Mr. Thang explained that the General Team was assigned to manage the land area for the Project but had not been given actual land management rights. Meanwhile, the land had already been allocated to team members for housing and production. For the Youth Volunteer Team No. 3, a plan for transfer and merger with a business had been in place for many years but had not been fully implemented. Furthermore, the Provincial Youth Union, the governing body of the Youth Volunteer Team, does not have the authority to handle land-related tasks; and the opening of a production workshop is a pressing need for processing forest products, making management very difficult.

The commander of the Provincial Youth Volunteer Force, Nguyen Dinh Thang, said: “The command has issued documents requiring the facility owners to suspend production and only resume production when all procedures are completed according to regulations. However, the facility owners do not have legal land use rights, and it is very difficult to complete the necessary conditions to operate until the land is handed over to the local authorities. Therefore, due to the urgent need for a market for acacia wood, some facilities are still secretly organizing wood chipping activities…”

Recorded at Bai Tranh, Nghi Son

During our time in Tan Ky district, we visited 2 out of 18 timber purchasing and weighing stations located along the Ho Chi Minh Highway. At these locations, we were informed by the workers that the acacia wood, after being purchased, would be transported north, mostly to Thanh Hoa province. Furthermore, they mentioned that very few local people owned the weighing stations; most were from other provinces, with Thanh Hoa being the largest group. “Round timber is transported by truck along the Ho Chi Minh Highway to wood chipping factories in the Bai Tranh area, or down National Highway 48D to Nghi Son town. Wood chips are stored in the port's cargo yards…” – the accountant of one weighing station explained.

To verify the information provided, we traveled twice along the Ho Chi Minh Highway towards the border between Nghe An and Thanh Hoa provinces. Stopping right next to the Thanh Hoa boundary sign, in Nghia Lam commune (Nghia Dan district), we witnessed numerous trucks carrying acacia wood heading north. Following these trucks, we saw them all stopping to unload acacia wood at wood chipping factories located in Bai Tranh commune, Nhu Xuan district. These included Xuan Son Forestry Products Processing and Export Company Limited; Thanh Nam Wood Processing Factory; and TCT Wood Chip Factory…

Spending time monitoring the intersection of Ho Chi Minh Highway and National Highway 48D in Nghia Dan district, we witnessed numerous large trucks carrying whole acacia trees and wood chips along National Highway 48D towards Nghi Son port. Following one of these convoys, we confirmed what we had heard at the acacia wood weighing station in Tan Ky district: they all headed towards Nghi Son port. The wood chips were unloaded directly into storage yards deep within the port, while the round acacia logs were transported to several wood chipping factories outside the port. Using a drone to observe the cargo yards within Nghi Son port, we noted many storage areas with "mountains" of wood chips awaiting transport onto ships.

We spoke with several managers about what they had witnessed in the Bai Tranh area and at Nghi Son port. According to them, this is a reality and nothing surprising. Nghi Son port is a deep-water port in the region, capable of accommodating cargo ships with a tonnage of tens of thousands of tons, making it convenient for transporting wood chips. Furthermore, Thanh Hoa province currently has many wood processing businesses and facilities; a large number of businesses directly export wood chip products to foreign markets. Because of the high demand for acacia wood, wood chip processing facilities in Thanh Hoa province often offer high prices and pay immediately after loading the acacia, so local people often sell to them.

During a visit to Phu Quy Forestry Products Processing Joint Stock Company (Nghia Long, Nghia Dan), Mr. Tran Xuan Nghia, the Deputy Director of the company, also stated the same thing. He explained that the company's wood chips are also exported through an intermediary; therefore, export taxes are also paid in Thanh Hoa. At that time, we asked Mr. Tran Xuan Nghia: Why doesn't the company directly export its products? He replied: To connect directly with foreign partners for export requires a large supply of raw materials. When a business lacks the capacity to meet these conditions, it is very difficult to export directly. Meanwhile, businesses in Thanh Hoa already have a market; their only problem is how to procure enough raw materials to fulfill orders…”

Leaders of the Economic Department of Thai Hoa town also stated that some businesses in the area have compared the policy mechanisms between Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces. They believe that Thanh Hoa province has a more open approach to the wood chipping industry. “They argue that the wood processing industry is an investment-incentive sector, and there is no law prohibiting wood chipping. Therefore, given the high demand from organizations, units, and acacia growers in the province, restricting this industry is impractical…”

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According to data from the Thanh Hoa Department of Industry and Trade in the first quarter of 2024, exports through informal channels and businesses outside the province reached an estimated $13.1 million, an increase of 23.4% compared to the same period last year and equivalent to 21.9% of the plan. Of this, wood chip exports reached 131,000 cubic meters.³.

>>Article 1: A close look at an unlicensed wood chipping factory
>>Lesson 3: Inspection of wood chip processing and chipping operations