Vietnamese wood businesses are facing countless difficulties due to a lack of orders, rising costs and slow VAT tax refunds. Many have scaled back operations as they wait for the market to recover. The latest statistics from Vietnam Customs show that in the 12 months to 15 September Vietnam’s total export value reached US$242.04 billion, down US$23.44 billion or 9% year-on-year. Of which, shipments of wood and wood products fetched US$9.01 billion, a decrease of 23% compared to the figure of US$11.67 billion achieved in the same period ...