To meet the special request of McDonald's, Starbucks; wood enterprises surprisingly escape from difficulties

	Avoiding imported risky raw wood, the woodcraft village prospered
	Laminated wood producers on the line amid falling new orders
	Wood sector seeking ways to develop sustainably

Workers process wood at the factory of Nhat Nam Construction Mechanical Plywood Co., Ltd. in Binh Duong. Photo: TN

Nhat Nam Construction Mechanical Plywood Co., Ltd (headquartered in Xuan Thoi Dong commune, Hoc Mon district, Ho Chi Minh City, with a processing factory in An Dien commune, Ben Cat town, Binh Duong province) has export wood value, wood products plus consumption in the domestic market reached about USD 4 million/year.

Nguyen Minh Nhat, Director of the Company, said that, instead of following mass production, the business focuses on the niche market of bent plywood, which specializes in supplying US fast food chains such as Starbucks and McDonald's.

Making these product lines is more difficult and more advanced and must follow the mold required by partners but compensates for the high price.

To make bent plywood, the company uses about 95% rubber wood and 5% imported wood. From thin boards, businesses paint and then put them into injection molds according to the requirements of partners.

For the use of wood materials with sustainable forest certification (FSC), Mr. Nhat added that if the customer requires that the wood materials must be taken from the FSC-certified forest area, the enterprise must import it from FSC-issued forests.

"Customers increasingly demand proof of the origin of wood, 25% of our orders require FSC materials, so we have to import materials to meet them. If we can negotiate with customers, agreeing to use acacia wood is simpler because there is more area of FSC-certified acacia wood in Vietnam," said Mr. Nhat.

According to Mr. Nhat, the white rubber wood is beautiful, making high-class furniture, but currently, Vietnam's rubber does not have an FSC certificate. "The biggest success of the business this year is keeping workers, paying full wages, maintaining production by following the niche market," said Mr. Nhat.

Similarly, due to making high-class Plywood boards, Tekcom Joint Stock Company (Tan Uyen town, Binh Duong) is still standing amid certain fluctuations in the wood export market.

Ms. Cao Thi Thuy An, Sales Manager, Tekcom Joint Stock Company said that inflation in the US and EU has affected the export situation, but the last 3 months of the year have been better.

"Especially, Tekcom makes high-quality products that can compete with Plywood made from Russian birch, so we expect to be able to replace this Russian product in some markets," said Ms. Cao Thi Thuy.

Regarding the US Department of Commerce's investigation of evasion of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy taxes on plywood using hardwood materials imported from Vietnam by the US Department of Commerce, Ms. An said that it is an obstacle, but Vietnamese enterprises can fully prove that wood materials do not have Chinese sources to continue exporting goods to the US market.

On September 12, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) announced the fourth extension of the time to issue the final conclusion on the investigation of evasion of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tax on plywood using hardwood materials imported from Vietnam.

DOC will issue the final conclusion on the investigation of evasion of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tax on plywood using hardwood materials imported from Vietnam on January 31, 2023.

Previously, on July 25, the DOC announced the preliminary conclusion of the case, saying that plywood products imported from Vietnam into the United States, if there is a core using peeled plywood imported from China, will be subject to anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tax as applied to plywood imported from China. For plywood from Vietnam, if it has a core using peeled boards manufactured in Vietnam or in other countries, is not subject to anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tax.

Forecasting the situation of the wood export market in 2023, Mr. Nhat said that "Some markets are worried about heating energy, so demand for pellets increases sharply, and non-essential needs will be ignored. This winter, which will last until April 2023, then it will be possible to assess how the market is, from which businesses can re-plan their development strategies."