Two more months then the year 2018 will end. Currently, enterprises in the province are busy with orders in last months of the year.
Orders pile up at the end of the year
Ly Ngoc Bach, Director of Cuong Phat Ceramics Company (Thuan An Town) has come back from the USA to sign a contract with his partner, yet he started right sway to operate production machinery of the company to be able in time to delivery products to partners in last months of the year. Mr. Bach said that at this time the company had export orders until Q2-2019. At present, the company must work overtime, recruit more workers to timely finish orders.
Ceramic production at Cuong Phat Company.
Phuoc Du Long Ceramic Company (Thuan An) is also busy with orders to hand over 250 containers from now to the end of the year. Mr. Vuong Sieu Tin, Director of the company, said that this was the peak shopping season in EU and the US, so the number of orders that must be delivered in Oct and Nov was huge. According to Mr. Tin, in 2018, the domestic ceramic industry would continue to grow at a very optimistic rate, was projected to increase by 15% compared to 2017. He was delighted that the ceramics industry has found the right direction, followed the demands of export markets.
Like previous years, at this time, the ceramic industry is lacking skilled workers. This fact forced ceramic enterprises to change their production technologies to meet increasingly strict demands of customers. It can be seen that in recent years, the domestic ceramic industry has made good changes. Although the number of ceramic enterprises in the province decreased sharply in comparison due to competitive pressures, large enterprises have been standing firmly in the market, thus maintaining the growth of this industry.
Currently, enterprises in the province have raised their interest in new technologies to save time, improve product quality. Provincial ceramic industry also had large changes to stand firm in the market. However, with its characters, some important steps must be performed by human hands, yet the current lack of professional human resources is high. According to Mr. Tin, the ceramic industry in the province is deprived of skilled craftsmen. This is a matter that the State and enterprises should soon find a solution to ensure ceramic industry’s sustainable development in the future.
Many advantages for timber industry
According to Binh Duong Furniture Association (BIFA), from the beginning of the year to Oct 2018, wood export turnover of the country reached more than $7.3 billion. The number of orders of Nov and Dec of wood enterprises in the country as well as in the province are relatively high. Thus, the country's timber industry is likely to exceed $9 billion of export turnover this year.
Nguyen Liem, Director of Lam Viet Wood Joint Stock Company, said that now timber enterprises in the province had orders till Q3-2019. The good news is that raw materials for timber industry is relatively stable, businesses’ concern is changing old production technologies. BIFA Wood Fair 2018 recently held in Binh Duong showed that the biggest rival of our wood industry is China's wood enterprises. However, in addition to the advantage of cheap labor, production technology in China is not inferior to European countries. However, the technology gap will soon be shortened by Binh Duong enterprises, because many wood enterprises in the province have financial capacity to invest in modern machinery, production lines.
According to Luu Phuoc Loc, Vice President of BIFA, many Binh Duong timber enterprises purchased modern production lines. At this time, wood enterprises in Binh Duong are accelerating production speed to satisfy orders, while changing old technologies to improve productivity, product quality, and increase competitiveness in the market.
BIFA leaders also said that national timber industry in general and Binh Duong in particular have benefited from the current US-China trade war and the fact that Britain left the European Union. The wood industry has more opportunities to develop, the supplies of raw materials in and outside the country are more diverse, abundant, export markets increase market share. The wood industry is taking a firm step, developing in both quantity and quality. With an annual growth rate of 20%, if it was maintained in the coming years, national wood industry could complete the export target of $20 billion by 2025 as "ordered" by the Prime Minister.
Reported by Phung Hieu – Translated by Ngoc Huynh
