Vietnamese shipments of wood chairs were forecast to surge 45 percent this year making up 22-25 percent of the country’s woodwork exports, according to the industry association. The Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association (Vietfores) said the industry saw a 27 percent year-on-year increase in chair export sales to US$445 million, a staggering 47 percent increase.
The association’s chair forecast was based on steady export growth recorded in recent years, outpacing that of the whole woodwork industry, projected to hit $2 billion this year.
Major seating
Leading the way, a total of $119 million in exports came from the US market, accounting for a 47 percent increase from a year earlier.
Vietfore said that US demand for wood chair imports from other countries remained strong, around $3.4 billion a year, generating the opportunity for Vietnam take an even bigger bite out of the robust market.
Following the US are France, the UK and Germany with their respective quarter one imports from Vietnam totaling $16.6 million, $15.3 million and $12.4 million, with the January-March total EU import bill at $80 million.
Japan is seen as another emerging market for wooden chair producers in Vietnam but its export revenue to the market in the first quarter reached only $3 million.
Vietfores said that the item made its way to around 80 overseas markets, great potential for local wood processors to step up chair shipments in the coming time.
The country has 464 chair exporters, 88 percent of the wood processors nationwide, with 400 of those Vietnamese-run and the remainder foreign-invested.