Vietnam raked in US$369.2 million from exporting timber and wooden products to the Republic of Korea (RoK) during the five months of the year, an increase of 7% against the same period last year, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.

Plywood and wood flooring exports also accounted for the highest proportion with turnover reaching US$98 million during the first four months, up 0.6% over last year's same period, followed by wooden furniture with US$87 million, up 16.9%.

Wood chips are the third largest export item in terms of the structure of timber and wooden exports to the RoK market with US$19.23 million, representing a year-on-year fall of 8.4%.

According to statistics compiled by the Korea International Trade Association (Kita), the RoK's wooden furniture imports enjoyed a surge of 7.9% last year to reach US$1.22 billion.

The opening four months of the year saw the RoK import 142,200 tonnes of wooden furniture worth US$449.68 million, a rise of 19.8 % in volume and 25.2% in value from the same period last year.

Amid a range of complicated developments caused by the global spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the growing trend of wooden furniture consumption in the RoK is anticipated to create greater opportunities for Vietnamese businesses to bolster exports to this potential market in the near future, according to industry experts.

Source: VOV