Timber companies in Nghe An are receiving export orders again.

In early August 2023, at Thanh Chuong Wood Production and Trading Joint Stock Company (Thanh Huong commune, district...)Thanh ChuongThe atmosphere at the factory was quite bustling. Trucks constantly transported acacia wood in and out, filling the yard, while inside the factory, the production lines operated actively to produce wood pellets.

A representative from Thanh Chuong Wood Production and Trading Joint Stock Company stated: From the end of 2022, exporting wood pellets to European, South Korean, and Japanese markets became very difficult, with prices falling.

However, from the beginning of July 2023 until now, the factory has secured orders in Japan, exporting over 11,000 tons of resin pellets at a price of 180 USD/ton. Currently, the factory is continuing to seek additional orders to maintain production of 10,000 tons of product per month (equivalent to purchasing 24,000 tons of raw resin materials in Thanh Chuong district).

Mr. Tran Phi Hung, Head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Thanh Chuong District People's Committee, said: Thanh Chuong district has over 20,000 hectares of acacia plantations, with an annual harvest of 2,500-3,000 hectares. The fact that Thanh Chuong Wood Production and Trading Joint Stock Company has secured export orders and is operating stably continues to benefit both acacia farmers and the factory. After a long period of acacia facing export difficulties, now that the factory is back in operation, farmers are selling acacia to the factory at prices ranging from 10.5 to 1.1 million VND per ton, which is already profitable.

At the same time, at Song Hieu Forestry and Agriculture Company Limited (Thai Hoa town), in the wood processing plant area, workers were busy packing goods to be loaded onto trucks for the purchasing unit.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Hoang, Chairman of the Board of Members of Song Hieu Forestry and Agriculture Company, shared: "At the end of June 2023, we had a large inventory of nearly 4,000 cubic meters of various wood products, worth nearly 30 billion VND. The inventory mainly consisted of laminated wood and wood blanks."

“Fortunately, since July 10th, demand from other countries has returned. We have secured orders and sold to wood chip purchasing units in the southern provinces. These units collect wood from various places and then export it to the US market. Currently, we have sold all our existing wood inventory, and our wood processing plant is operating at 70% capacity, achieving a volume of 250 cubic meters of laminated wood per month. Thanks to stable demand, nearly 100 workers have jobs,” Mr. Hoang added.

Speaking about the good news of orders returning, a representative of Nghe An PP Paper Materials Joint Venture Company Limited in Khanh Hop commune (Nghi Loc district) also expressed: Before June 2023, the factory had over 2,500 tons of wood chips in stock. But since the beginning of July 2023, the export market has improved, and the factory has collaborated with other wood chip processing units outside the province to collect and export 8,000-10,000 cubic meters of wood chips to China and South Korea. The price of wood chips has increased compared to the beginning of 2023, from 950,000 VND/ton to 1,050,000 VND/ton.

According to a report by the Department of Industry and Trade, Nghe An province currently has more than 45 wood processing enterprises, over 100 non-timber forest product enterprises, and more than 10,000 establishments producing and trading wood products and non-timber forest products. In the first six months of 2023, orders at enterprises in this sector decreased by an average of over 50%.

However, since July 2023, businesses have started receiving orders again, mainly for export to European countries, South Korea, Japan, etc. Notably, the previous inventory of wood processing factories has been largely cleared, and the factories are now back in operation.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Lam, Vice Chairman of the Nghe An Wood Processing and Non-Timber Forest Products Association, said: Although the wood industry has shown signs of improvement and businesses have secured export orders, the number of orders is still not large due to ongoing difficulties caused by the economic downturn. Therefore, wood businesses in Nghe An must proactively seek and expand markets, especially the domestic market.

In addition, businesses also need to improve their competitiveness, ensure product quality, and meet consumer demands. Wood industry businesses need to focus on restructuring and reorganizing their production, with an emphasis on technological innovation, improving production management systems, and enhancing the efficiency and quality of human resources to reduce costs.

Van Truong