HARD WOOD, FINDING OUTPUT FOR TEXTILE, LEATHER, SHOES, WOODEN INDUSTRY

The export turnover of the textile, footwear and furniture industries in the first 7 months of 2023 recorded the deepest decline among the manufacturing and processing industries. The difficulties of enterprises in these industries are forecasted to last until next year...

Exports plummeted

 At a trade promotion conference with the overseas Vietnamese trading system in July 2023 on July 31, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai said that in the past, 3 industries of textile, garment, footwear and wooden furniture has a very high and stable export growth.

However, in the recent period, the world and regional economic situation has fluctuated, causing disruptions, disruptions to supply chains, and decline in demand. In particular, demand from Vietnam's strong markets such as the US, EU, and Japan declined sharply.

Currently, many industries are facing difficulties, in which the three main processing and manufacturing industries, including textiles, footwear, and furniture, have the largest decline. Specifically, in the first 7 months of the year, the export of wood and wooden furniture products only reached 7.2 billion USD, down 26.2% over the same period in 2022.

Total textile and garment export turnover reached 18.9 billion USD. , down to 15.1%. The total export turnover of footwear reached 11.7 billion USD, down 17.1%.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai chaired a trade promotion briefing session with the overseas Vietnamese trading system in July 2023.

Explaining the reason for this decline, Mr. Ngo Sy Hoai - Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association said that, in addition to the general reasons as pointed out by Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai, the wood industry more affected, with a deeper reduction. Especially in the group of interior and exterior wood products, the group of refined products with higher added value has a decrease of over 30%.

In recent years, the wood industry has grown quite hot, growing continuously over double digits. Trade remedies, especially trade remedies initiated by the US to investigate and impose on some Vietnamese wood products, also affect export growth.

In addition, some large markets often "endoscopy" wood export products from Vietnam very carefully because of new regulations on the environment.

Another reason may be starting to emerge, that is the trend of repositioning, prioritizing the use of domestic goods in the current context of many possible uncertainties such as epidemics, wars, freight charges. sea increased dramatically. Mr. Truong Van Cam - Vice President and General Secretary of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (VITAS) assessed that all the fluctuations of the world market, especially the big markets, have "flooded" into the textile and garment industry.

It is a fairly hot development industry in recent times, but recently, especially from the fourth quarter of 2022 until the end of the 7 months of 2023, textiles and garment as well as many other industries have faced many difficulties and have never been able to meet the demand such difficulty.

In the first 7 months of 2023, textile and garment export turnover reached only 22.8 billion USD a decrease of 14.7 billion USD compared to 2022. All exported garments, fabrics, fibers... all fell deeply. For example, garments reached 11.8 billion USD, down 13.2%; fabric reached 1.37 billion USD, down 18%; fiber reached 2.5 billion USD, down 20.7%.

Exports of raw materials and accessories also only reached 700 million USD, down 17%, while nonwoven fabrics decreased by 25%. It is forecasted that the total world demand for textiles and garments in 2023 will decrease by 8-10%.

Therefore, textile enterprises are very difficult. "In that situation, we expect that the difficulties of Vietnam's textile and garment industry will last until next year," Mr. Cam said.

With the leather and footwear industry, Ms. Phan Thi Thanh Xuan - General Secretary of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association also forecast that the industry's export decline will continue until the first quarter of 2024 and cannot be stopped immediately.

Currently, orders from the US market are down by 35%, while the EU is down 13%. "We realize that the most immediate difficulty of the leather and footwear industry is the story of lack of orders. The level of lack of orders of enterprises is 30-50% for traditional customers, especially for the US and EU markets. - The two markets account for 70% of the industry's export turnover. To make up for this shortfall, we need to see opportunities in other markets," said Ms. Xuan.

Trade promotion is the best solution

According to Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai, in the difficult context of the current market, the role of trade promotion is increasingly seen. This is an important, effective and must-do solution. To contribute to improving the three growth engines of the economy, including export, investment and consumption, through supporting enterprises to develop production and promote export markets, it is necessary to come up with solutions for the most appropriate, spreading solution to effectively support businesses.

Mr. Ngo Sy Hoai said that wood businesses need continued support from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, overseas deals on marketing Vietnamese wood products, helping businesses find markets. The contents to be marketed include: wood products of good quality; Competitive price; Vietnam strictly implements international commitments to ensure the supply of legal timber. According to VITAS Vice President and General Secretary, with the uncertain and unpredictable fluctuations of the domestic and international situation, businesses need timely information from major markets such as the US, EU China, Japan, etc.

Korea; or potential markets as well as competitors to have appropriate and effective response policies. The General Secretary of the Vietnam Leather, Footwear and Handbag Association said that trade promotion is one of the best solutions to make up for the shortage of orders from now until early next year.

The Association desperately needs the support of foreign businesses in this activity. Specifically, deals can directly connect Vietnamese enterprises with interested customers. The connection of information needs to be promoted stronger and better in the coming time, thereby joining hands to support businesses.

The association also hopes that in addition to providing information to businesses, deals should propose solutions to help the Government, ministries and sectors have timely implementation activities, thereby helping businesses understand and comply with the regulations to player.