Furniture exports forecast to decline in first quarter
By Pham Thai - The Saigon Times Daily
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| A worker in The Country Co. in Dong Nai Province puts the finishing touch on furniture products. Outbound sales of the industry is expected to fall in the first quarter - Photo: Pham Thai |
HCMC – Furniture export is projected to decline against last year since wood processors become more cautious about taking new orders after the long Lunar New Year holiday, the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (Vifores) said.
Though local wood working companies find no difficulties in taking orders from importing markets such as the U.S. and the EU, they are not eager to sign new contracts as in the previous years, said Nguyen Ton Quyen, chairman of Vifores.
“Last year, high inflation pushed interest rates and input costs up. This year, from their past experience, timber enterprises survey supply and demand, and material prices before signing new contracts with partners,” he said.
“We say ‘yes’ to those orders having quantity and product types suitable to our production capacity so as to secure profitability rather than vying for orders as much as possible in the past,” said Ngo Thi Hong Thu, vice chairwoman of Truong Thanh Furniture Corporation.
The holiday-thinned January pulled down export sales by 18.5% year-on-year to some US$280 million only, driving the export value of furniture products in the first quarter down to an estimated US$1 billion.
In particular, the export value of bamboo and rattan products in January is estimated at US$19 million, a 9.7% year-on-year decrease.