Wood material from the cutting logs in Vietnamese factory
Strict Forest Stewardship Council certification regulations pose both challenges and opportunities for the Vietnamese timber industry.
The demand for FSC-certified timber materials has been increased in Vietnam due to requirements from their largest markets, the US and Europe. But due to the restrictions on the origin of such materials, obtaining FSC raw materials remains a challenging tasks.
Some companies are investing in a factory to gain access to raw material regions with FSC. According to the EU and American standard, FSC certified products requires the usage 70% of materials must be FSC-certified and the remainder must be sourced wood.
Vietnam primarily purchases FSC wood from South America and South Africa countries, and due to longer shipping times and high sea freight cost, raw material arrive to Vietnam will face challenges.
In recent years, the Vietnamese government has implemented priority policies, such as the Vietnam Forestry Development Strategy for 2021–2030 and a scheme to develop a sustainable and effective wood processing industry, which promotes the growth of large plantation timber with FSC certification.
As a consequence, an increasing number of companies operating in the timber processing sector are actively pursuing prospects for direct involvement in the certified forest supply chain. A number of companies, including Woodsland, NAFOCO, and Scancia Pacific, have achieved raw material self-sufficiency by collaborating with foresters.
Source: Vietnamnet