According to the General Department of Customs, Vietnam’s export of timber and timber products to the ROK reached US$369.2 million in the first five months of 2021, up 7% over the same period last year.
Wood, boards and floorboards accounted for the largest proportion of Vietnamese timber exports to the ROK, bringing in revenue of US$98 million in the first four months of 2021, up 0.6% from a year earlier.
Wood furniture came second with US$87 million, up 16.9%, of which wood frame chairs posted the highest growth rate by climbing 26.4% to US$ 29.86 million.
Wood chips were the third largest timber export with revenue of US$19.23 million, down 8.4% compared to the same period of 2020.
In a recent report, the Korea Development Institute (KDI) stated that although risks related to Covid-19 remain, the Korean economy is on the recovery track and its growth will be driven by consumption and investment.
It is notable that the demand for furniture items, especially those made of wood, still recorded decent growth in 2020 despite the impacts of Covid-19 on the Korean economy.
Data from the Korean International Trade Association (KITA) showed that the ROK’s import of wooden furniture in 2020 reached US$1.22 billion, up 7.9% from 2019.
Commenting on the growth, the Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City stated that Covid-19 forced more people to stay at home and they had more time to repair their houses.
In addition, the demand was driven by the growing number of single-person households. Statistics show that single people living alone accounted for more than 30% of total households in the ROK in 2020, nearly double the figure in 2019.
The growth in single-person households in the ROK has driven the demand for small-sized and multi-purpose furniture items to fit their small-sized houses.
Vietnam is the second largest exporter of wooden products to the ROK, after China.
In the first four months of 2021, Korean imports of wood furniture were estimated at US$449.68 million, a year-on-year rise of 25.2%.
