Japan Wood Products
Prices
Dollar Exchange Rates of
15th May. 2009
Japan Yen 95.13
Reports From Japan
Projections show lower Japanese demand in second and third quarters
Japan Lumber Journal (JLJ) reported on projections for
Japan’s demand of timber imports for the second and third
quarters of 2009. The projections were announced during a
meeting held by the Forestry Agency, where participants
were provided with an overview of the figures for these
quarters, which showed decreasing demand in the
Japanese economy with overall declines in housing starts
and domestic timber demand. Both domestic and foreign
timber was expected to fall 10-20% compared to the same
period in the previous year. The chart below shows the
projections in supply and demand for Southsea logs and
lumber and plywood in Japan in the second and third
quarters of 2009:
Sanshin Lumber Co. to sell silver ash wood from PNG
Japan Lumber Journal (JLJ) reported on Sanshin Lumber
Co.’s new sales of silver ash wood products from PNG. To
obtain the wood, the company signed a contract with
Rimbunan Hijau Group, which has its head office in
Malaysia and manufactures and exports wood products
from PNG. Silver ash (Flindersia achottiana) is a scarce
variety of wood and is easy to process. It is commonly
sold as a high-value item in Europe, the US, and Australia
for use in furniture and flooring.
Surge in wood pellets production in Japan
Wood pellet production in Japan was 16 times higher than
in 2004, reported JLJ. As expectations that wood pellet
use would be on the increase in factories and in
households, nearly 40,000 tons of wood pellets were
produced in 2008. The number of factories producing
wood pellets also jumped to 51. Wood pellets have
become particularly utilized in boilers and stoves/headers
as an alternative to fossil fuels.
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