Forestry sector in US$5.72 billion trade surplus

The country earned more than US$7.61 billion from exports of forestry products between January and October, 84% of the yearly target. The figure is 16.12% higher from the same period last year and accounted for 23.37% of total agro-forestry-fishery shipments.Timber and wood products contributed US$7.23 billion to the exports. The US, Japan, China, the Republic of Korea and the European Union remained the largest importers of Vietnamese wood and timber products, purchasing 87% of total exports.VNForest estimated Vietnam has planted 161,207 hectares of forest so far this year, up 7.5% year on year and 75.1% of the yearly plan.As of September 20, the country had collected VND1.79 trillion (US$76.97 million) from forest environment service fees, 77.2% of the yearly plan and up 76% from the same time last year.Wood and timber products are Vietnam’s sixth export item. The country is the largest exporter of those products among ASEAN member nations, the second largest in Asia and fifth in the world. It expects to earned 9 billion from exports of timber and wood products this year, up US$1 billion from last year.