HO CHI MINH CITY, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam earned more than 6. 2 billion U.S. dollars from timber and wood-based exports in 2014, an increase of 11 percent year on year, local media reported Wednesday.
The export value rose due to increasing demands from major foreign markets such as the United States (up 12.5 percent) and Japan (up 18 percent), the Saigon Economic Times quoted sources from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as saying.
Meanwhile, the country spent around 2.2 billion dollars on timber imports, up 34 percent year on year. The major import markets included Laos, which accounted for nearly 27 percent of the total import value, followed by Cambodia with nearly 12 percent, the U.S with 11.5 percent and China with 10.5 percent.
In 2014, the country's timber exploitation output reached nearly 6.5 million cubic meters, an increase of more than 15 percent from a year earlier, according to the ministry.
The ministry predicted timber and wood-based exports will increase by 15 percent this year.
Vietnam currently imports wood from almost 40 countries and exports to countries such as the United States, Japan, New Zealand, Canada and the EU.
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