Vietnam earned $597 million from exporting wood pellets in the first eleven months of the year, down 14 per cent year-on-year, figures from the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association (Viforest) show.

Export revenue of wood pellets in November reached $58 million.

Japan and South Korea are Vietnam’s two major export markets.

In the first three quarters of 2023, exports to South Korea reached nearly 1.3 million tons, equal to 56 per cent of 2022’s figure. The exports of wood pellets to South Korea fell as the country imported products from other markets such as Russia.

Vietnam exported 2 million tons of wood pellets to Japan, equivalent to nearly 82 per cent of last year’s figure. Experts said ample space remains to boost these exports to the country, with its demand expected to increase three-fold in the future. Vietnam currently meets some 80 per cent of Japan’s demand.

Vietnam is the second-largest wood pellet exporter in the world, following the US.

It is expected to earn $665 million from wood pellet exports in 2023.

Last year, Vietnam exported 4.9 million tons of wood pellets with a total revenue of $790 million, up 30 per cent in quantity and 67 per cent in quality year-on-year.