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Japan
Wood Products Prices
Dollar
Exchange Rates of 15th May 2008
Japan
Yen 105.10
Reports
From Japan
Tokyo Wholesale Market reports poor results in April
Japan Lumber Journal reported on the recent meeting of
the Lumber Price Investigation Committee (part of the
Tokyo Wholesalers’ Association), where it was indicated
that movement of wood products was weak in March.
Although there was hope that the situation would
turnaround in April, there was no sign that this was the
case and it was expected that it would take more time for
the market to recover. A similar situation held for plywood
prices.
For lumber, it was reported that wholesalers were having a
difficult time selling Southsea lumber as a result of high
priced inventories. However, some costs have eased since
the exchange rate has given the Japanese yen an advantage
over the Malaysian ringgit and Indonesian rupiah.
Plywod manufacturers have also noted they will curtail
production in April and May, due to poor demand in the
market. It is believed that plywood is unlikely to surge in
the market, and price hikes for plywood are likely to keep
buyers at bay for the near term. The Ministry of
Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries has also announced that
demand for plywood is expected to be 180,000 m3 for the
second and third quarters of 2008.
ITTO holds climate change and SFM meeting
ITTO held an international meeting on SFM and climate
change in Yokohama, Japan from 30 April to 2 May 2008.
More than 150 participants from governments, the public
sector and industry representatives attended the meeting.
Key messages from the meeting included: reducing
deforestation and encouraging forest restoration and SFM
were important to mitigating climate change; climate
change poses a threat to tropical forest and forest
dependent people; bioenergy production from forestry and
the substitution of fossil fuel intensive products from
wood products could help mitigate climate change; and
ITTO can play an important role in climate change
mitigation and adaptation.
The Coordinator of the Trade Advisory Group, Mr.
Barney Chan, made a statement at the meeting, noting
that discussions on Reducing Emissions from
Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) and carbon
sequestration should not detract from action to reduce
emissions of carbon from the use of fossil fuels. He
suggested that clarity is needed to determine who owns
carbon and who will benefit from the REDD scheme. He
also queried how the timber industry would benefit from
payments for REDD and called for REDD to incorporate
the use of timber and other non-timber forest products as
they represent real storage of carbon. Chan also called for
greater work on Life Cycle Analysis to show the limited
environmental impacts of timber use as an environmental
benefit. He noted that there were only two years left in
which to work on REDD mechanisms and called for a
collective solution to the problem.
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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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