{"id":19553,"date":"2024-08-02T15:41:01","date_gmt":"2024-08-02T05:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/?p=19553"},"modified":"2024-10-21T20:17:31","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T10:17:31","slug":"why-japan-is-now-the-worlds-best-market-for-timber-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/why-japan-is-now-the-worlds-best-market-for-timber-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Japan is Now the World’s Best Market for Timber Business"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Japan might be the world’s fourth-largest importer of timber products\u2014but it might just be the hottest right now. Wood Central can reveal that importers are now eyeing the land of the rising sun – as the global timber market grapples with a slowdown in construction activity across the US<\/a>, China <\/a>and even a faltering India.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As reported by the Japanese Ministry of Finance<\/a>, the country’s softwood lumber imports increased by 23% year-on-year to 1,856 thousand cubic metres for the year to June – with global importers now commanding the world’s highest prices ($353 per cubic metre), more than compensating for the higher costs faced by European and North American timber mills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Trends in Japan\u2019s imports of softwood lumber by country in January – June 2024 \/ Lesprom Analytics
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According to government data, Canada leads the way with 460,000 cubic metres of softwood (an increase of 37% or 25% of total imports), followed by Sweden with 369,000 cubic metres (up 36%), Finland with 289,000 cubic metres (up 5%), and Russia, one of the few Western countries that has not enforced sanctions<\/a>, with 265,000 cubic metres (also up 12%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The surge in lumber has come as importers and householders have been crunched by a weak yen – leading to local manufacturers establishing export markets to trade millions of cypress trees now being cut down.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is fueling the new wave of timber imports?<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

In January,<\/a> Wood Central reported that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida introduced a suite of new policies aimed at increasing timber use in buildings and, for the first time, opened up visas for foreigners working in timber fabrication and installation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there is the “Promotion for the Use of Wood in Public Buildings,”<\/a> which now encourages<\/em> the use of timber in buildings up to 3 storeys in height and 3000 square metres in footprint. Wood Central understands that these policies, along with the World Expo site<\/a>, have led to a wave of low-rise, mid-rise and high-rise timber projects built by fabricators like Shinohara Shoten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“About 80% of our market is residential construction, with 20% (growing) into the non-residential mass timber market,” according to Yuichiro Shinohara, the President and CEO of Shinhohara Shoten. Responsible for fabricating at least 4,000 timber buildings every year, Shinohara Shoten is one of Japan’s top importers of softwood lumber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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