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Japan
Wood Products Prices
Dollar
Exchange Rates of 13th April
2007
Japan
Yen 119.18
Reports
From Japan
Plywood export prices recover amid surging demand
Export prices of Southeast hardwood plywood for the Japanese market, which had been
depressed over the last weeks, have rebounded. Prices for thin and medium-thick
panels recovered $10-30 while those for 12 mm panels were $10-20 higher. Japanese demand is
expected to surge further in May, after Japan’s Golden Week holiday period
that goes from 30 April to 6 May. Japanese importers anticipate more price hikes in May as a result of greater
market activity.
Japanese imports of plywood rebound in February
Plywood imports rose strongly to 381,000 m3 (￥25.48 billion) in February, up 15.2% (up 64.3% in value) from a
year earlier. This was the eighth consecutive monthly growth and one of the
strongest in the last months. Imports had slowed down in January after large volumes were
imported during the last half of 2006. By import source, 196,000 m3 came from Malaysia (up 8.3% and 51% of the
imports), 124,000 m3 from Indonesia (up 11.3%) and 50,000 m3 from China (up 72%). The share of imports on total plywood supply rose 3.1 points to 59.1% from the previous year.
Japan raises preferential duty limit for 2007
The Japanese Ministry of Finance has disclosed the lim it of preferential duty for fiscal year
2007. The limit has been increased 3% to ￥109.74 billion ($922.2 million) for
customs code 44 of wood products, up ￥2.2 billion from the previous year. Rumania and Bulgaria do not longer
benefit from the preferential duty after joining the EU. Although Japan has concluded free trade
agreements (FTAs) with a number of timber supplying countries, such as Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Chile, Mexico and
Thailand, duties on wood products remain or are phasedout over an agreed period. In the case of Chile, softwood
lumber (notably radiata pine) will be duty free after FTA becomes effective in fall 2007, regardless of the 2007
preferential duty limit.
Sumitomo Forestry acquires PNG’s Kowa Lumber
Sumitomo Forestry, Japan’s largest timber importer and supplier, has recently bought Kowa
Lumber Co., Ltd. Kowa has been involved in the establishment of timber plantations in PNG and imports of wood from that
country. Sumitomo Forestry move is intended to secure wood supply. Kowa operates Open Bay Timber (OBT) in
PNG’s East New Britain Island and a timber plantation of 12,500 ha. Kowa has been exporting 100,000 m3 of logs,
mostly plantation kamerere. About half of the log exports are bounded for Japan for plywood production. Kowa is
currently working to obtain an FSC certificate for its PNG forest plantation.
WTK acquisition increases market share in Japan
WTK group, a Sarawak’s forest company, has bought Linshanhao Plywood Sdn Bhd (LSH) for 150 million
ringgit ($43.6 million). The acquisition of LSH, which exports 90% of its output to
Japan, would position WTK as the country’s largest supplier of premium floor-base
plywood to Japan, where currently LSH holds some 20% market share or 80,000 m3 a month. With the
take-over of LSH, which is expected to be completed in May, WTK’s production of plywood
would increase to 304,000 m3 a year from the current 210,000 m3 a year. Correspondingly,
revenue is expected to increase by 30% and earnings by 15% in 2007. The new export volume would be
comparable to that supplied by the largest Malaysian supplier to Japan, ShingYang group. Japanese plywood
importers do not expect any major impact on supply volume or price negotiation by this merger.
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