Vietnam shipped abroad nearly 4.4 billion U.S. dollars worth of timber and wood products in the first eight months of 2016, a decline of 0.6 percent from a year earlier, said the Vietnam Timber and Forest Product Association (VIFORES) on Wednesday.

Timber and wood products exports to China and Norway fell by 40 percent each while shipments to South Africa, Finland and India also saw sharp decreases.

Rises were seen in exports to some markets such as Cambodia, Mexico and Portugal.

VIFORES said the United States is currently the biggest importer of Vietnam's timber and wood products, purchasing 39.5 percent of total shipments.

It is followed by Japan (with 14.6 percent), China (14 percent), and the Republic of Korea (8.6 percent), respectively.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam achieved total export value of wooden products of 7.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2015, up 8 percent year-on-year.

Wooden chairs, bedroom, outdoor and office furniture are the four key export categories.

Vietnam is the world's fourth largest wood producer, after China, Germany and Italy.

Source : XINHUA