KUCHING: Japan has increased the imports of plywood from four key supply countries — Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and China — this year.
In February 2024, Japan raised the plywood (HS441210-39) imports from the top four countries by more than 20 per cent to 129,300 cubic metres (cu m) from 106,200 cu m in February 2023.
Year-on-year in February, shipment volumes from the four countries all increased: Indonesia to 55,300 cu m (2022:40,600 cu m), Malaysia to 45,400 cu m (44,900 cu m), Vietnam to 17,100 cu m (12,900 cu m) and China to 11,500 cu m (7,800 cu m).
However, as compared to January 2024, with the exception of Indonesia, shipments from Malaysia, Vietnam and China all dropped in February 2024.
In January, Japan imported 55,300 cu m from Indonesia, 50,200 cu m from Malaysia, 20,500 cu m from Vietnam and 13,300 cu m from China.
“Of the various categories of plywood imported in February, 87 per cent was HS441231, with HS441233 and HS441234 accounting for 6.5 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively.
“The four main shippers of plywood to Japan — Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and China — consistently account for over 90 per cent of plywood imports. Other shippers of small quantities include Finland, Chile and New Zealand,” said International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) Tropical Timber Market Report (April 16-30, 2024) based on data from Japan’s Finance Ministry.
On assembled wooden flooring, Japan’s value of imports in February 2024 shot up by 50 per cent from February 2023, and was higher by 13 per cent as compared to January 2024.
In February 2024, the main category of assembled flooring imports was HS441875, which accounted for more than 70 per cent of the total value of assembled flooring imports.
“The yen exchange rate against the US dollar has driven up the cost of flooring imports but the steady rise in imports cannot be explained as only due to the weak yen as the yen exchange rate has been in the range of 140-150 yen per dollar for most of 2023, rising to about 150 yen in the early part of 2024.
“The main shippers of assembled flooring (to Japan) in February were China, down slightly from a month earlier, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. In January, there was a significant shipment of flooring from the US, however, none was reported for February,” said the ITTO report.
Meanwhile, according to latest publication of Japan Lumber Reports (JLR), when the yen appreciated to between 147-148 yen against US dollar in early March, some Japanese distributors purchased South Sea (tropical) logs and lumber. They did not buy much logs and lumber last year when the yen was 150 to US dollar.
“Since the unseasonable weather in Papua New Guinea, South Sea logs have arrived in Japan three or four months behind the schedule. Manufacturers, which produce blocks for steel or shipbuilding companies, did not have enough South Sea logs temporarily. However, demand and supply of South Sea logs are balanced now,” said JLR, its bi-monthly trade journal of which is reproduced in ITTO tropical timber market report.
In Japan’s Miyazaki Prefecture, the report said the price of logs remains high due to tight supply but the price of lumber has declined.
In March, the price of cedar logs rose by 500 yen to 15,500 yen delivered per cubic metre (cu m) in Miyakonojo city, Miyazaki Prefecture from the previous month.
“Several lumber manufacturers in Miyakonojo city, raised the price of KD cedar lumber structural lumber and KD cedar small sized lumber by 2,000 yen per cu m as of April 2024. The reason is the new rule for drivers in distribution business. The transport companies must reduce extra work, solve a shortage of truck drivers and solve overloading.
“If it were a long-distance transport, the truck driver must take a ferry on the way. Therefore, the transport companies raised the price to their clients. Also the log price had been increasing recently, so the companies had no choice to change the price.
“Now the price of KD cedar post is 60,000 yen, delivered per cu m within Kyushu region. The price of KD cedar purlin is 55,000-56,000 yen. KD cedar beam is 65,000 yen. KD cedar is 60,000 yen and KD cedar small size is 63,000-64,000 yen.”
JLR said due to poor sales after the recent Chinese New Year holidays, laminated board plants in China and Indonesia lowered the prices of their products though this not widely done.
