Acacia wood price drops, people worry

Loss or break even

From the bare lands, bare hills are covered with green acacia trees, increasing forest cover, protecting the ecological environment in the province. Planting acacia forests for decades has also affirmed its economic efficiency, helping many households in the mountainous areas of Nam Dong, A Luoi, and hilly areas in the province escape poverty, become well-off, and become rich legitimately.

In the mountainous district of Nam Dong, there is one of the districts with the largest area of acacia forest in the province with more than 7,000 hectares. Acacia trees used to take 5-6 years to harvest, but in the last 5 years, thanks to good and reasonable care, the growth time has been shortened, only about 4 years can be harvested. Each hectare usually gives an average profit of about 80 million VND, sometimes the price is high, or depending on the quality of the wood, the profit can be up to 100 million VND/ha.

Since the beginning of this year, the price of acacia has decreased by 30-40% compared to last year, causing people to worry. This is also the first time in many years that the price of acacia has dropped quite sharply. According to Mr. Doan Phuc in Huong Loc commune (Nam Dong), with the current price of acacia wood, people can only break even, or make low profits, affecting the lives of forest growers.

Many forest areas have reached the harvest cycle, but due to low prices, many households have not been able to exploit and sell. This affects the lives and reinvestment in production for many households. Mr. Phuc shared that planting acacia requires a lot of care and pruning, not to mention the cost of seeds and planting, while at this time of harvest, the price of gasoline and labor is high, making it difficult to make a profit, so we have to wait until the price increases to harvest. However, it is difficult to determine when the price of acacia will increase again, the fate of small timber plantations is very unpredictable.

Not only in the mountainous district of Nam Dong, but also forest growers in many localities in the province are in the same situation with the low price of acacia wood. And for the people now, there is no other choice but to wait for the price to increase before selling. Some households have exploited but cannot sell, so they have to pile up, affecting the quality of the wood and possibly causing damage.

Chairman of Nam Dong District People's Committee, Mr. Tran Quoc Phung said that the price of wood or any other commodity increases or decreases due to the mechanism and demand of the consumer market. The current price of wood is decreasing, although it has not greatly affected people's lives in the short term, but in the long term if the price continues to fluctuate at a low level, forest planting households and workers dependent on the forest will face many difficulties. In Nam Dong district, there are thousands of forest planting households and workers dependent on the forest such as planting, caring for, exploiting, carrying, peeling, transporting... planted forest wood.

Towards large, sustainable timber plantation

According to the leaders of Hue Paper Materials Joint Venture Company in Phu Loc and companies purchasing and processing planted forest wood in the province, the price of planted forest wood has dropped mainly because the main consumption markets such as China, Japan, etc. are "frozen". The purchasing and processing companies have a large amount of wood in stock because they cannot export, so they cannot continue to purchase more. In particular, Hue Paper Materials Joint Venture Company, which used to be able to purchase hundreds of tons of acacia wood every day, has now had to temporarily stop purchasing. It must wait until the inventory is exported before this company can continue to purchase raw wood from the people.

Another reason why small-wood acacia raw materials are difficult to consume and have fallen in price like now is because the world market is moving towards product quality. In which, large timber forests, with FSC certification... are the inevitable choice of businesses purchasing and processing products from planted forest wood. Meanwhile, most of the acacia forest area in the province is small timber forests, with a harvest time of 4 years, even less than 4 years old.

According to Mr. Tran Quoc Phung, Chairman of Nam Dong District People's Committee, in this situation, the district is aiming to expand the area of large timber plantations associated with the product value chain. In case the current low prices continue, the district will have measures to propagate and mobilize people to switch to registering for large timber plantations, FSC certification... This is also a common trend in the province and many countries in the world. The district will work with relevant functional departments, gradually converting small timber forest areas to large timber, associated with mechanisms and policies to ensure production needs and people's lives.

Head of the Provincial Forest Protection Department, Mr. Le Ngoc Tuan informed that currently, the area of large-scale acacia plantation forests in the province is planned to reach more than 10,000 hectares. To continue to develop in accordance with the current reality, the forestry sector is reviewing to advise the Provincial People's Committee to adjust the plan for large-scale acacia plantation forests in the period of 2021-2025 with a scale of about 13,500 hectares.

The total area and number of households that have been granted FSC and VFCS/PEFC sustainable forest management certificates is now more than 11,300 hectares.for a Forestry Company and 1,397 households. Of which, Tien Phong Forestry One Member Co., Ltd. with an area of over 3,096 hectares and a group of households, the Provincial Association of Forest Owners for Sustainable Development (TTH-FOSDA), An Viet Phat Cooperative Thua Thien Hue with over 7,387 hectares. All of these areas have been assessed and recognized to maintain sustainable forest management certification.

For the VFCS/PEFC certificate represented by the Provincial Cooperative Union with more than 816ha/124 households. In 2022, because this unit did not conduct periodic assessment to maintain the certificate, the certificate was suspended. For the 25 sustainable forestry cooperatives that have been established, of which Thuan Thien Sustainable Forestry Cooperative is promoting activities according to the charter and production and business plan and supporting the remaining cooperatives to move towards establishing the Union of Sustainable Forestry Cooperatives in 2023.

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