According to a report by the Vietnam Administration of Forestry (VNFOREST) presented at the conference “Developing Raw Material Areas for the Wood Processing and Export Industry” held on April 22, rubberwood contributed 10.7% of the total timber volume used by Vietnam’s wood-processing industry during 2017–2021.
Rubberwood: A Key Component of Domestic Timber Supply
The hybrid in-person and online event was co-organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association (VIFOREST), chaired by Deputy Minister Lê Quốc Doanh.
Deputy Minister Doanh praised achievements in the expansion of plantation forests, which have helped supply timber for Vietnam’s wood-processing and export sector — an industry that achieved USD 17 billion in export turnover in 2022.
However, to successfully implement the Vietnam Forestry Development Strategy 2021–2030 (Vision to 2050), the country still faces major challenges. The volume of timber from sustainably certified forests remains insufficient to meet export requirements to major markets such as the U.S., Japan, South Korea, and the EU.
Imported timber prices have also risen sharply — by 36% to 52% in the first quarter of 2022 — while longer shipping times have caused production delays, reducing the competitiveness of Vietnam’s wood industry.
The Deputy Minister emphasized the need to remove barriers and accelerate domestic raw-material forest development to meet the growing demand for processing and exporting wood and wood products in the 2021–2030 period.
Domestic Wood Sources Remain Crucial
VNFOREST’s report on the “Development of Raw Material Forests for the Wood-Processing Export Industry” revealed:
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Vietnam has 5,580 enterprises engaged in wood processing and forestry production, with 86.9% specializing in wood products.
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767 enterprises are foreign-invested (FDI), and about 2,600 firms directly export wood products.
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Nearly 1,000 companies have achieved Chain of Custody (CoC) certification from FSC or PEFC, ensuring traceability and sustainable management.
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The Southeast region hosts 42% of the country’s wood-processing facilities.
Between 2017 and 2021, domestic timber accounted for 77.4% of total supply. Of this:
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Timber from plantation forests made up 52.7%,
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Timber from scattered trees represented 14%,
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Rubberwood contributed 10.7%,
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Imported timber accounted for 22.6%.
Despite challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, Vietnam’s wood-processing sector achieved a record USD 15.96 billion in exports in 2021, up 20% from 2020. Vietnamese wood products were exported to over 120 countries and territories, with the U.S., Japan, China, EU, and South Korea representing 90.4% of total export value.
Rubberwood’s Growing Role in Export Growth
According to the Vietnam Rubber Association (VRA), from 2017 to 2020, exports of rubberwood and rubberwood products steadily increased, contributing about 22.4% to the overall value of Vietnam’s wood industry.
The demand for large-diameter, high-quality, and sustainably certified plantation timber is expected to rise sharply, both for domestic use and export.
Vietnam targets to harvest:
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27 million cubic meters of plantation timber by 2025,
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35 million cubic meters by 2030.
Within this, the rubber industry is projected to contribute 7–8 million cubic meters of rubberwood annually from 25,000–30,000 hectares of replanting areas, meeting approximately 20% of Vietnam’s total raw-wood demand.