In October, Vietnamese timber exports earned US$528 million, bringing total timber exports in the first 10 months to $4.98 billion, a 12.8-per cent year-on-year increase.
A report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said timber exports to three leading markets in the first 10 months of the year continued to increase.
Export turnover from the US market increased by 14.35 per cent and from the Japanese market, by 22.03 per cent. However, export turnover from the Chinese market fell by 10.19 per cent.
The three markets are the leading importers of Vietnamese timber this year, providing 66.35 per cent of the value of the country's total timber exports.
Chairman of the Binh Duong Wood Processing Association, Huynh Quang Thanh, said the rehabilitation of the world economy had opened new prospects for timber processing enterprises.
In recent years, enterprises had produced higher quality products that met the requirements of choosy markets of Europe, the United States and Japan.
The markets have showed interest in Vietnamese wood products because of the diverse designs they produced and sophisticated manufacturing.
Meanwhile, the nation's imports in October reached $177 million, bringing total imports in the first 10 months of the year to $1.9 billion, a 55.2-per cent year-on-year increase.
Timber imports from Laos accounted for 28.4 per cent of Viet Nam's market share. This was followed by Cambodia with 12.7 per cent, the US with 10.8 per cent and China with 9.9 per cent.
It is expected that Vietnamese wood exports will reach $6.3 billion to $6.5 billion by the end of this year./.