Vietnam Paper Industry Faces Green Pressures Amid Growth Opportunities

The paper and pulp industry plays an essential role in the global economy, supporting packaging, printing, and daily consumer products. Vietnam's paper and pulp sector emerges with strong potential amid rising demand for eco-friendly products and stricter green export standards, though it confronts significant challenges. VPPA Chairman Hoàng Trung Sơn discussed these dynamics in an interview. In the past decade, Vietnam's industry achieved double-digit annual growth. VPPA data shows 2025 production at 6.34 million tonnes, consumption at 7.77 million tonnes (+10.8% YoY), led by packaging paper at 6.19 million tonnes (+12.6% YoY) driven by e-commerce, logistics, and plastic substitution. Tissue consumption rose 8.7% to 423,000 tonnes. Capacity projected to reach 10.9 million tonnes by 2030, with packaging at 9.7 million tonnes (nearly 90% of growth), reliant on raw materials. Imports hit 2.75 million tonnes, exports 1.49 million tonnes in 2025; 2024 paper exports exceeded $2 billion (10-12% CAGR over 5 years). Packaging market forecast at $3.5 billion by 2026. Government prioritizes private sector growth, infrastructure to cut high logistics costs. Challenges include global volatility, U.S. policies, India competition, China import decline, EU rules like EUDR and PPWR, plus CBAM, ESG, carbon cuts. Recovered paper shortages persist despite domestic collection at 3.6 million tonnes (56% demand); imports over 3 million tonnes yearly. Pulp imports surged 50% to 638,297 tonnes. High domestic logistics, financing hurdles for non-IPO firms add pressures. Industry suits circular economy via renewable wood chips, high recyclability (>80% developed nations), biodegradability. Firms adopt low-grammage paper, digitization, automation for efficiency. Government targets green/circular economy by 2030/2045. Green shift via renewables, heat recovery, ESG; digital via IoT/AI for optimization, Digital Twin integrating ERP-MES-SCADA. VPPA advances circularity, ESG training, tech upgrades. Chairman urges policy updates, tech transfer, standards, R&D centers, waste collection incentives, EPR enforcement, balanced capacity growth.