Vietnamese luxury wooden furniture makers feel pain of regulations and deforestation
A mere 45 minutes northeast of Vietnam’s bustling capital city of Hanoi is the carpentry town of Đồng Kỳ, where conversations take place above the incessant din of electric saws cutting wood. A thin layer of sawdust coats every surface, and after a few hours you can feel the dust in your throat. Furniture showrooms filled with incredibly ornate table and chair sets that cost upwards of $10,000 line the main road, while workshops fill side roads and back alleys. Renowned for its traditional hand-carved wood furniture, most of which is made from rare hardwood species such as Siamese rosewood (Dalbergia cochinchinensis), this town is ruled by the timber industry. It’s very big business: Vietnam’s overall timber and wood furniture exports were worth $7.3 billion in 2016, according to the Forestry General Directorate. The workshops and showrooms of Đồng Kỳ mainly serve clientele from the giant consumer market to the north, China. Situated less than 200 miles from the Chinese border, Đồng Kỳ is perfectly placed to ship traditional furniture to wealthy buyers.
