The EU is now Vietnam’s biggest export market for timber, with US$300m of wood products bought so far this year.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said France was the biggest importer within the EU with a market share of 29%, followed by Britain with 25% and Italy 12.6%.

The ministry said total timber export earnings are expected to reach US$500m in 2003, which it attributed to the industry’s overseas expansion efforts, product quality improvements, varied designs and keen pricing.

But it said the industry faced a challenging time to hold onto its EU market share because of lack of capital, outdated technology and insufficient material supplies. The EU is also setting higher standards for timber quality and occupational health and safety in 2004.

Vietnam has produced 300,000m3 of timber annually during the past three years but this is predicted to fall due to the slow pace of the national afforestation strategy