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Japan
Wood Products Prices
Dollar
Exchange Rates of 30th Mar. 2008
Japan
Yen 99.21
Reports
From Japan
Dissolution of NFA will affect shipping of Sarawak Timber
Japan Lumber Reports indicated that the Nanyozai
Freight Agreement (NFA), which sets rates for South Sea
log transportation, will be dissolved at the end of March
2008. After April of this year, Japan is likely to drop the
antimonopoly act exemption for NFA members. This,
coupled with the fall of South Sea log import volume,
persuaded officials to discontinue the NFA. Moreover, a
number of disagreements had arisen under the NFA last
year. For instance, the Tokyo Regional Taxation Bureau
and NFA had disagreements on the type of brokerage fee
to collect from shipowners. Additionally, a group of
shipowners (DSN) from Sarawak, Malaysia, decided not
to renew their agreement with the NFA due to a past
dispute over an unpaid commission. When the NFA is
dissolved, there will be only one non-NFA shipping
company to send South Sea logs to Japan and each
shipping company that is a member of the NFA will have
to negotiate with the Tax Bureau.
January 2008 reveals disconcerting plywood import trends
Japan Lumber Reports said plywood imports in January
2008 had dipped 30% from January 2007 levels, hovering
around 311 million m3. Domestic production of plywood
also decreased in January 2008, leading the overall supply
of plywood to be 27% less than in January 2007.
At the end of March 2008, the Japan Lumber Journal said
it was ‘inevitable’ that Japanese importers of plywood
would have to accept price increases. While imports had
risen from February levels, the scarcity of plywood supply
had not been resolved. It was noted that material for
plywood in Malaysia and Indonesia was in short supply
and logging operations had been delayed. Japan Lumber
Reports noted that prolonged rainfall had decreased
production levels and the log market was generally slow.
The only exception to this was high demand for keruing
and kapur, which was sought by Indian and Chinese
buyers.
Tight Southsea timber supplies seen by mid-2008
Japan Lumber Journal reported on the potential shortage
of imported plywood that might emerge by mid-2008. This
will be largely due to unresolved problems with log
transportation from Sarawak and existing log supplies that
were only likely to meet demand for just over three
months. Thus, it is expected that suppliers will be
impacted in the latter half of the year.
The Tokyo Chapter of the Japan Southsea Lumber
Conference also noted that Southsea log imports were
down 25.6% from the previous year. The conference noted
that the Southsea log market had shrunk around 20% in
2007. In 2007, Japan’s import of Sarawak logs fell 29%,
and imports from Sabah, Papua New Guinea and Solomon
Islands dropped 31.2%, 13.4% and 6.8%, respectively.
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Abbreviations
| LM
Loyale Merchant, a grade of log parcel |
Cu.m
Cubic Metre |
| QS
Qualite Superieure |
Koku
0.278 Cu.m or 120BF |
| CI
Choix Industriel
|
FFR
French Franc |
| CE
Choix Economique
|
SQ
Sawmill Quality |
| CS
Choix Supplimentaire |
SSQ
Select Sawmill Quality |
| FOB
Free-on-Board |
FAS
Sawnwood Grade First and |
| KD
Kiln Dry |
Second |
| AD
Air Dry
|
WBP
Water and Boil Proof |
| Boule
A Log Sawn Through and Through |
MR
Moisture Resistant |
|
the boards from one log are bundled |
pc
per piece |
|
together |
ea
each |
| BB/CC
Plywood grades. Letter(s) on the left indicate
face veneer(s), those on the right backing veneer(s). Veneer grade
decreases in order B, BB, C, CC, etc. |
MBF
1000 Board Feet
|
|
Plywood |
MDF
Medium Density Fibreboard |
| BF
Board Foot |
F.CFA CFA Franc
|
| Sq.Ft
Square Foot |
PHND
Pin hole no defect grade |
| Hoppus ton 1.8 cubic
metres |
 
Price has moved up or down |
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