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materials. However, he noted that future growth will no longer come
The exploitation of young forests (3-4 years old) along from expanding production scale but must instead be driven
with the development of small-scale purchasing and chipping by higher-quality growth, improved productivity and the ability
facilities is leading to increasingly fierce competition for raw to adapt to new market requirements.
materials, while businesses investing in processing face many Increasingly stringent regulations on deforestation, carbon
disadvantages. emissions and traceability, together with the growing trend

Sharing the same view, Mr. Nguyen Tat Son, Chairman towards green consumption, are compelling the wood industry
of the Board of Directors of Thang Nam Forestry Company, to transform its development model.
said that the company owns two wood processing factories in To achieve the target of US$25 billion export revenue by
Nghe An with a total capacity of over 500,000 cubic metres of 2030, the industry needs to move towards sustainable forestry,
finished products per year requiring about one million tonnes greater material self-sufficiency, upgraded value chains and
of raw wood to maintain production. more efficient use of forest resources, Nghia said.
Despite having partnered with about 60,000 forest-planting He noted that a sustainable and transparent material
households and committing to purchasing at a price about supply chain is not only essential for meeting export market
three percent higher than the price of wood chips, the company standards but also helps businesses secure supplies, reduce

still faces difficulties in securing supply due to the increasing dependence on imported materials, improve competitiveness
demand for wood chips and pellets for export. and raise the value of deeply processed products.
According to Mr. Son, exporting raw materials with low Ngo Sy Hoai, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of the
added value is reducing the supply of materials for deep Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (VIFOREST),
processing, directly affecting the competitiveness of Vietnam's said that while the forestry sector has successfully expanded
wood industry. planted forest areas over the past 30 years the next three
decades should focus on improving timber quality and the

Addressing bottlenecks in wood raw material value of raw materials.
development The focus should shift from “planting more to harvest
The country ranked fifth globally, second in Asia and first in more” to creating greater value from the same forest area
Southeast Asia in wood and wood product exports providing by developing large-timber plantations, applying science and
an important foundation for the industry to pursue modern, technology and improving added value processing capacity,
sustainable development and generate higher added value. he said.
The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)
hosted a forum in Hanoi on 23 July to discuss solutions to
bottlenecks in developing sustainable material sources for Pixabay via Picryl.com

deep wood processing as the sector seeks to shift from
growth based on volume to higher quality, added value and
sustainability.
VCCI Vice Chairman, Bui Trung Nghia, said that after nearly
three decades of development, Vietnam’s wood processing
industry has become a key export sector, recording export
revenue of over US$17 billion in 2025.