Chapter 4. DEMAND AND SUPPLY OF TIMBER IN JAPAN.
Preface

Figure 4.1: Forest area change in Japan

This ITTO-funded study on the demand and supply of timberin Japan has been undertaken by the Japan Wood-products
Information and Research Center (JAWIC)98 and prepared by
Dr. Satoshi Tachibana (fellow of JAWIC) from the University of
Tuskuba (Japan). It builds on a 2008 study of the Japanese woodmarket and use of tropical wood99 between 1945 to 2008.

Situation of the forest and forest
products industries in Japan for theperiod 2008-2017
Forest resources
The total area of forested land in Japan is about 25 million haand has been stable since the 1960s. However, the composition
ratio of natural forest and planted forest has changed as shownin Figure 4.1. Large-scale forest exploitation had occurred
during the wartime and postwar revival period due to the large
quantity of wood that was required to secure necessary supplies.
Reforestation was then promoted to rehabilitate degraded land
after exploitation. From the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s, morethan 300,000 ha of land were reforested annually resulting in
an increase in planted forests from the 1960s to the 1980s,
while the area of natural forests declined. The main speciesof planted forest during the period were Cryptomeria japonica(Japanese cedar), Chamaecyparis (Japanese cypress) and Larix
kaempferi (Japanese larch), with the former two species having
the desirable features of fast growth, straightness and ease ofprocessing.
From mainly the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, the major fuelusage switched from firewood and charcoal to oil and gas as
economic growth increased (the fuel revolution). Firewood
and charcoal demand decreased dramatically during the fuelrevolution, and the demand for building materials and paper
products increased rapidly from the mid-1950s to the early
1970s, the period of high economic growth. In response to suchdemand, “expansive afforestation” was promoted to enable atransition from natural forests such as those used for firewood,to planted forests.
From the viewpoint of land conservation, degraded land should
be reforested as soon as possible. Therefore, needle-leaved
tree species such as Cryptomeria japonica (Japanese cedar),Chamaecyparis (Japanese cypress), Larix kaempferi (Japaneselarch) (Picea jezoensis (Ezo spruce), Abies sachalinensis(Sakhalin-fir), Pinus densiflora (Japanese red pine), and Pinus
thunbergii (Japanese black pine) were chosen for their highgrowth rates as well as high economic value.

98

JAWIC originates from the Wood-Products Stockpile Corporation, which wasestablished in 1974, and changed its name to Japan Wood-Products Information
and Research Center in 1991. JAWIC promotes activities to support the securesupply of timber, such as collecting, analyzing, and providing information on
timber supply and demand, price, production, distribution, and consumption.
Dr. Satoshi Tachibana is a leading expert on timber trade research and has been
conducting quantitative and qualitative research on global forest products tradeand Japanese forest products trade since the mid-1990s.
99
FAO/JAWIC 2008. The Japanese wood market and use of tropical wood.
Available at: http://www.fao.org/forestry/18282-0c6347955461596080c8333bc
5c3c4c4a.pdf

44  Biennial Review 2017-2018

Source: Forestry Agency (2010) “Annual Report on Forest and Forestry in Japan2010” and Forestry Agency “Forest inventory survey (Shinrin Shigen Genkyo inJapanese)” (http://www.rinya.maff.go.jp/j/keikaku/genkyou/index1.html)

Figure 4.2: Forest stock change in Japan

Source: Forestry Agency (2018) “Annual Report on Forest and Forestry in Japan2018” and Forestry Agency “Forest inventory survey (Shinrin Shigen Genkyo inJapanese)” (http://www.rinya.maff.go.jp/j/keikaku/genkyou/index1.html)

Forest stock in Japan has been growing continuously since the1960s as shown in Figure 4.2. The forest stock has almost tripledfrom 18.8 billion m3 in 1966 to 52.4 billion m3 in 2017. Thoughforest stock from natural forests has been stable, forest stockfrom planted forests has been increasing significantly since the1970s. This is the result of the conversion from natural forests toplanted forests since the 1950s.
The change in age structure of planted forests between 1987
and 2017 is shown in Figure 4.3. Disproportionate age class
distribution can be observed both in 1987 and 2017. A highproportion of planted forests fall into the age class X-XII(51‑65 years from planting), such as 1.1 million ha in the ageclass IX, 1.5 million ha in the age class X, 1.6 million ha in in
the age class XI and 1.4 million ha in the age class XII in 2017.
Planted forests of Japanese cedar can be generally harvested at
50 years when most plantations have reached a harvestable age.
However, over the last two or three decades, clearfelling has
been stagnant, resulting in insignificant reforestation and a small
area of young age-class forest.
Since the 2000s, after the conclusion of the Kyoto Protocol, theJapanese government has actively promoted thinning in plantedforest to prevent global warming. Furthermore, the Forestry
Agency of Japan has been adopting measures to promote clearcutting and reforestation in order to rejuvenate matured planted
forest. In the future it is expected that the area of young planted
forests will increase gradually.
Figure 4.3: Age structures of planted forests in 1987 and2017

the “Forest and Forestry Basic Law” was enacted to integrate
multiple functions of forests, such as watershed protection, landconservation, prevention of global warming, etc. It can be notedthat the addition of the “wood processing industry” to the text ofthe basic law has also been important.
The “Forest and Forestry Basic Plan” is the fundamental national
policy on forests and forestry in Japan, while the “National ForestPlan” provides national guidelines for forest management. In the“Forest and Forestry Basic Plan,” forests are categorized into
three functional types according to their primary function: “landand water conservation forests,” “forest-human co-existence
forests,” and “sustainable resource use forests.”(2) Policy Revision for Revitalization of Forests
and Forestry
In 2011, as the “first year of the revitalization of forest and forestry”,
the MAFF reviewed forest policies and revised the “Forest
Law,” introduced the “Forest Management and Environmental
Conservation Direct Support System,” and developed the new“Forest and Forestry Basic Plan” and “National Forest Plan.”
Source: Forestry Agency (1987, 2017) “Forest inventory survey (Shinrin Shigen
Genkyo in Japanese)”

Figure 4.4: Age structure by planted conifers in 2017

The “Forest Management and Environmental Conservation
Direct Support System” is a subsidy program which supports thecosts of forest management, including thinning and constructionof forestry roads, in combination with forest management
activities100.

Forest utilization by forest products industries

Source: Forestry Agency (2017) “Forest inventory survey (Shinrin Shigen Genkyo
in Japanese)”

Administration scheme(1) Basic framework of forest management inJapan
The “Forest and Forestry Basic Law” was established in 2001
as an alternative to the “Forest Basic Law” established in
1964. The “Forest Basic Law” had been established to develop
forestry in response to a significant increase in timber demandduring high economic growth periods. However, between thelatter half of the 1970s to the 1990s, the demand for timber
was varied and stagnant, and Japan also faced a decline inits timber self‑sufficiency rate. In response to such changes,

As mentioned in the Forestry Agency’s “Annual Report on
Forest and Forestry in Japan: Fiscal Year 2017”, forests provide
a variety of goods and services indispensable for people’s
lives and national economy, through fulfillment of multiple
functions such as land conservation, watershed conservation,and prevention of global warming. We can observe changes in
the public’s expectations for the roles of forests referring to
the results of government polls. In the public’s expectations
for forests, “production of wood to serve as building materials
for homes and raw materials for furniture, paper, etc.” was theninth lowest rank in 1999, but in the year 2015 it was ranked
fourth. Top three in the results of government polls conducted
in 2015 are “Disaster prevention”, “Contribution to preventof global warming by absorbing CO2”, and “Storage of water
resources”.
Total domestic production101 of roundwood increased from18.730 million m3 in 2008 to 23.181 million m3 in 2017 as shown
Annual report on forest and forestry in Japan fiscal year 2012. Available at:
http://www.rinya.maff.go.jp/j/kikaku/hakusyo/24hakusyo/190411.html
101
Production and trade data reported in this chapter may not correspond withITTO data derived from the official data submitted through the Joint Forest Sector
Questionnaire 2017 by the Japanese focal point and presented in Appendices 1
and 2. Consultations were underway with the government of Japan regarding thedata presented in this study at the time of finalizing the Biennial Review. Any revisions or comments on Japan’s production and trade on timber will be posted in due
course on https://www.itto.int/biennal_review/
100

Biennial Review 2017-2018  45

Chapter 4

Focusing on age structure by major planted coniferous tree
species, four major species, Japanese cedar, Japanese cypress,
pine, and Japanese larch, have an uneven distribution of age
class as shown in Figure 4.4. This is the result of an expansive
period of afforestation as stated above. Currently, most Japanesecedar and larch trees have reached the harvesting stage at around40-50 years old, and forestry activities of thinning and final
harvesting are carried out progressively in these planted forests.

In April 2011, the “Forest Law” was revised to introduce 1) the
assurance system of proper forest management of forests whose
owners are unknown, 2) the administrative order system to halt
logging without permission and oblige such loggers to replant,and 3) the “Forest Management Plan” system to promote
coordination and consolidation of forestry practices amonggroups of small-forest owners.

in Figure 4.6. Of the total production, 12.632 million m3 were used
for lumber, 5.193 million m3 for pulp and chip, 3.993 million m3
for plywood, 1.363 million m3 for other uses, 0.311 million m3
to grow shiitake mushrooms, and 7.793 million m3 for firewood
as shown in Figure 4.5. Over the last decade the increase inroundwood production of plywood and fuelwood has beenremarkable. As will be described later, imports of roundwood forplywood have decreased dramatically due to the decline in naturalforest resources and the rise of restrictions on exports of natural
resources in timber-producing countries, resulting in demand fordomestic roundwood to replace imported roundwood. Since theGreat East Japan Earthquake occurred in 2011, expectations anddemand for biomass fuels has been increasing in Japan, and wood
production for fuelwood has also been increasing.

Figure 4.5: D omestic roundwood production by purpose

Figure 4.6: C hanges in wood supply and self-sufficiency102
rate

Source: Forestry Agency “Mokuzai jyukyuhyo” (issued each year), Ministry of
Finance “Trade statistics of Japan” (issued each year)

both supply and demand side factors. On the supply side, there
has been a significant increase in roundwood production under
the Kyoto Protocol, and on the demand side, an expansion indemand including in the plywood sector, has been contributing
to the increase.

(2) Imported roundwood and wood products byproduct type

Source: Forestry Agency “Mokuzai jyukyuhyo” (issued each year)

Supply and demand of wood in Japan forthe period 2008-2017
Supply of wood(1) Changes in wood supply
As mentioned in the previous section, a significant proportionof planted forests in Japan are of harvestable age and thefocus is now shifting from planting and tending to harvesting.
Considering regional characteristics, the rotation of Japanesecedar is about 40 to 60 years, and that of Japanese cypress about
60 to 70 years. With the maturation of planted forests, as shown in
Figure 4.6, the supply of domestic roundwood in Japan remainedin a downward trend to 2002 from a peak of 52.7 million m3 in
1967, dropping to 46.2 million m3 in 1970, 34.6 million m3
in 1980, 29.4 million m3 in 1990, to 18.0 million m3 in 2000.
However, it has been increasing since 2002 when the supply hadreached 16.1 million m3, increasing to 18.6 million m3 in 2007,19.7 million m3 in 2012, to 23.2 million m3 in 2017. A significant
proportion of domestic roundwood supply in the 2000s has beenfrom thinnings, with thinnings being promoted following theconclusion of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 and entry into force ofthe Kyoto Protocol in 2006.
Figure 4.6 shows that the wood self-sufficiency rate dropped
to its lowest level at 18% in 2002 but has continued to rise to
the present. The self-sufficiency of industrial roundwood was
32% in 2017 and that of roundwood including fuelwood was
36%. The increase in self-sufficiency has been in response to46  Biennial Review 2017-2018

The total volume of roundwood and wood products imports
increased between 1955 and 1973, corresponding with an increasein the number of housing starts as shown in Figure 4.7. The volumeof imports declined sharply in the first half of the 1980s after thesecond oil shock in 1978-79, but until the 1990s it was at a levelexceeding roughly 70 million m3 under the bubble economy inJapan. Since the latter half of 1990s the volume of imports has
been declining as shown. This has been the result of (1) decreased
demand for wood products from the latter half of the 1990s after theGreat Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, (2) forest resource constraints
in wood-exporting countries such as Southeast Asian countries
and the U.S., and (3) increasing demand for roundwood and wood
products in China since the end of the 1990s. Roundwood andwood products imports in 2009 dropped significantly due to theglobal financial crisis. The imposition of restrictive export tariffs
on softwood roundwood by the Russian government in the latter
half of the 2000s also influenced trade and decreased sharply theamount of roundwood imports into Japan.
Figure 4.7: C hanges in the amount of imported roundwood
and wood products by product type

Source: Forestry Agency “Mokuzai jyukyohyo” (issued each year)
The self-sufﬁciency ratio (SSR) is deﬁned as follows:
SSR = production × 100 / (production + imports - exports).
102

From 2008 to 2017 Japan’s imports of roundwood and wood
products decreased significantly, by 14.9%, as shown in table 4.1.
Roundwood imports have declined by the largest amount,by 38.8% over the last ten years. A total of 59.2 million m3of roundwood and wood products was imported in 2008, of
which 7.6 million m3 (13%) was roundwood, 10.3 million m3(17%) was sawnwood, 6.5 million m3 (11%) was wood pulp,
26.1 million m3 (44%) was wood chip, 6.3 million m3 (11%) was
plywood, and 2.2 million m3 (4%) was “others”. In 2017, a total of
50.4 million m3 of roundwood and wood products was imported,of which 4.7 million m3 (9%) was roundwood, 10.0 million m3(20%) was sawnwood, 5.9 million m3 (12%) was wood pulp,
21.2 million m3 (42%) was woodchips, 5.6 million m3 (11%)
was plywood, and 3.0 million m3 (4%) was “others”. In recent
years, the proportion of processed wood products imports has
increased, and they were 90% of total imports of roundwood andwood products in 2017. (Figure 4.7 and Table 4.1).

This change reflects the replacement of tropical hardwoods bydomestic softwoods in plywood production.

Table 4.1 R oundwood and wood products imports toJapan.

Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries “Mokuzai jyukyu
hokokusho” (issued each year), Ministry of Finance “Trade statistics of Japan”(issued each year)

Units: 1000 m3, %
Share

2017

Share

Change59,234100

50,431100-14.9

Roundwood

7,622

13

4,666

9

-38.8

Wood products

51,611

87

45,76491-11.3

Sawnwood

10,319

17

9,978

20

-3.3

Wood pulp

6,526

11

5,887

12

-9.8

Wood chips

26,19644

22,21642-19.0

Plywood

6,283

11

5,663

11

-9.9

Other

2,287

4

3,020

6

32.1

Figure 4.9: P lywood production by thickness in 2008

Chapter 4

2008
Grand total

Figure 4.8: P lywood supply to Japan

Source: Forestry Agency “Mokuzai jyukyohyo” (issued each year)

The plywood supply to the Japanese plywood market since 1970
is shown in Figure 4.8. The total amount was in the range fromroughly 7 million m3 to 10 million m3 from the 1970s to 2007,
but it declined to around 6 million m3 after the global economiccrisis in 2008. Domestic plywood production had declined from
8 million m3 in 1980 to 3 million m3 in 2000 due to the influenceof log export restrictions and bans in Indonesia and Malaysia
after the 1980s. After that it stabilized at roughly around3 million m3 in the 2000s and has started to gradually increasesince 2010. Roundwood imports for veneer, including Southsea
roundwood, have declined significantly over this period, while
the use of domestic roundwood for veneer has increased.
Imported roundwood for veneers was only 880 thousand m3 anddomestic roundwood was 3.99 million m3 in 2017, with domesticroundwood accounting for 82% of roundwood consumption.
Based on official statistics “Mokuzai jyukyuhyo” (2017),
Japanese cedars accounted for 62% of roundwood consumption,larch 19%, and Japanese cypress 6%. Roundwood production
is changing from thinnings to clear cuttings, and there is anincreasing tendency to mainly use Japanese cedar for plywood.
Until 2008, the production of thin plywood was dominant,and the divisions of plywood thickness were from less than
3 mm thick to more than 12 mm thick. About 80% of plywood
production was of 12 mm thickness or more in 2008, as shown in
Figure 4.9. A dramatic change has occurred in plywood produced
domestically in the past decade. In recent years, production of
12 to 24 mm plywood has been more than 50% of the total,and 24 mm or more plywood has exceeded 35%. (Figure 4.10).

Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (2009) “Mokuzai jyukyu
hokokusho”

Figure 4.10: P lywood production by thickness in 2017

Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (2018) “Mokuzai jyukyu
hokokusho”

Plywood exports have been increasing since 2015, and mainly
destined for the Philippines. Total plywood exports amounted
to 110 thousand m3 in 2017. It is understood that plywood
is exported to the Philippines together with sawnwood andre‑imported to Japan after being pre-cut in the Philippines by amajor Japanese housing company. On the other hand, plywood

Biennial Review 2017-2018  47

imports increased sharply from the 1980s to the 1990s following
the introduction of measures to promote the plywood industries
in Indonesia and Malaysia (especially Sabah and Sarawak
states). Imports reached 5 million m3 in the mid-1990s, but there
has been a downward trend since the middle of 2000 as shownin Figure 4.8.

Figure 4.12: D emand for wood by usage in roundwood
equivalents

Figure 4.11: S uppliers to Japanese plywood market

Source: Forestry Agency “Mokuzai jyukyuhyo” (issued each year)(2) Demand by the sawnwood industry

Source: Japan Lumber Importers’ Association

Changes in suppliers of plywood since 2000 are shown in
Figure 4.11. The volume of domestic supply has been stablein the range of approximately 2.7 million m3 to 3.3 million m3.
During this period, the domestic supply has totalled more than
3 million in the years of 2000, from 2003 to 2007, 2016 and2017, but falling below 2.7 million in 2008 to 2012. Although
the volume of hardwood plywood has been declining, thevolume of softwood plywood has been increasing for the period.
With respect to imported plywood, Indonesian plywood had
declined dramatically in the 2000s and Malaysian plywood had
also declined in the 2010s, with both volumes now less than
1 million m3 per year. On the other hand, imports of Chinese
plywood have increased gradually in the 2000s, and now total a
few hundred thousand m3 per year.

Changes in the supply of roundwood for the sawnwood
industry are shown in Figure 4.13. The supply of roundwood
for the sawnwood industry increased and reached a peak of
63.7 million m3 in 1973. After 1973, the supply volume declined
until 1975 when it began to rebound. However, since 1979 it hascontinued to decline. This decrease in demand for roundwood
for the sawnwood industry is a result of the decline in number of
new housing starts in Japan. About 80% of sawnwood products
are used for construction, and roundwood demand for thesawnwood industry has a strong relationship with the number of
new wooden housing starts.
Figure 4.13: D emand for roundwood for the sawnwood
industry by supply source

Demand for wood(1) Demand for wood by usage
The demand for wood products in Japan increased rapidly alongwith economic development during the postwar revival period
and the period of high economic growth between the middleof the 1950s and the beginning of 1970s with a remarkableincrease in new housing starts. In 1973, demand reached its
peak at 117.6 million m3. However, the first oil crisis in 1973
and the second oil crisis in 1979 had negative influences on thewood products market, and demand fluctuated repeatedly. After
1987, demand for wood products remained generally stable ataround 100 million m3 per annum. However, the collapse of
the bubble economy in 1991 and the later economic recession
caused a decrease in wood products demand. Particularly, therapid economic deterioration in 2008 caused a sharp decline inwood products demand.
Demand for wood by usage from the 1970s is shown in
Figure 4.12. During this period, the reduction in wood demand forsawnwood was significant, declining from about 70 million m3
a year in the early 1970s to more than 25 million m3 in recent
years. Wood demand for pulp and woodchips increased from the1970s to the 1980s but declined when the global financial crisis
triggered. Wood demand for plywood materials was stable ataround 10 million m3 during this period.

48  Biennial Review 2017-2018

Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries “Mokuzai jyukyu
hokokusho” (issued each year), Ministry of Finance “Trade statistics of Japan”(issued each year)

The total supply of roundwood for the sawnwood industry wasapproximately 16.8 million m3 in 2017 as shown in Figure 4.13.
Of this, domestic roundwood accounted for 12.6 million m3(75.2%), Southsea roundwood 0.08 million m3 (0.5%), North
American roundwood 3.3 million m3 (19.5%), Russianroundwood 0.24 million m3 (1.4%), New Zealand roundwood
0.4 million m3 (2.5%), and other sources 0.15 million m3 (0.9%).
The ratio of domestic timber to total supply increased from 41.4%
in 1990 to 75.2% in 2017. Japan’s sawnwood imports increased
from the 1950’s to the mid-1990s, as shown in Figure 4.13, but
declined in the latter half of 1990’s mainly because of declining
housing starts.

82

Biennial Review 2017-2018  49

Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries “Mokuzai jyukyu hokokusho” (issued each year) and “Mokuzai toukei” (issued each year)

Source: Mokuzai Jyukyu Hokokusho, Mokuzaitoukei

4,875
4,638

79
80

4,218
4,405

72
72

4,181
3,837

68
65

3,858

64

65

3,107

54
31
22

5,183

9

4,636
5,809

5
4

9,839

Share of domestic roundwood

Ground total

7,462

19

5,227

3,986

3,811

21

329
173

15
16

141
107

14
10

105
86

9
10

79

7

14

47

34
13
18

8
7

30
32

17

Hardwood

144
14

337

Other softwood

184

36

54

127

221

757
798
687
681
733
690
727
607
3

0
Japanese cypress

Larch

40

171

210

217

386

592

649

2,481
2,280

240
188

2,087
2,111

126
104

1,922
1,593

87
75

1,550

81

55

1,176

6

25

803

0
0

542
266
1
Japanese ceader

0

1,061

1,297

1,538

3,993

184
176

3,682
3,356

237
152

3,191
3,016

142
137

2,602
2,524

83
107
61
135

2,490
1,979
2,137
1,632

130
98

1,144
863

74
60

354

369

546

Pine

Domestic

44

4
5
5
6
3
129
18
10
28
23
11
15
22
141
173
9
Others

106
151

28
20

100
88

35
x

x
x

x
x

92
431

44
64

443
1,123

33
35

2,655
2,897

83
124

2,506
1,893

603
388
103
New Zealand roundwood

928
181
Russian roundwood

134

594
588
544
869
871
855
877
412
194
135
48
26
13
29
102
63

882
957

184
193

864
1,214

216
204

1,165
1,235

251
347

1,334
1,321

424
399

1,128
1,849

535
846

3,595
4,039

1,018
1,108

3,773
5,263

2,597
5,502

7,093

2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2000
1995
1990

North American roundwood

Total plywood demand (roundwood equivalent) in Japanexceeded 7.5 million m3 from 2000 to 2006 as shown in Table 4.2
and Table 4.3. However, it decreased to 5.13 million m3 in 2009
immediately after the global financial crisis, picking up slightly
from 2011 to 2014 when it exceeded 6 million m3. However,since then demand has been in the range of 5.49 million m3 to
6.8 million m3 a year and is currently about 70% of the demandlevel in 2000. During the period 2000 to 2006 the number of
newly built houses exceeded 1.1 million units but declined to
790 thousand units in 2008. Thereafter, housing starts have

Table 4.2 Roundwood supply to Japanese plywood industry

Stable procurement of roundwood has become an important
issue for the plywood industry because of the severity of theeconomic international environment such as the sudden changes
in the exchange rate and the rise in freight costs on shipping. In
the latter half of the 1990s plywood manufacturing technology
developed, enabling domestic softwood roundwood to becomea key raw material for plywood. The volume of domesticroundwood used for plywood production has been increasing
since then, from 138 thousand m3 in 2000, to 863 thousand m3
in 2005, 2.490 million m3 in 2010, 3.356 million m3 in 2015 and3.993 million m3 in 2017. The share of domestic roundwood
increased rapidly from 3% in 2000 to 19% in 2005, 65% in 2010,
and reached 80% in 2015.

Chapter 4

At the end of the 1980s, most of the roundwood for plywood
was hardwood imported from Southeast Asian countries. Thissituation changed when roundwood exports were banned in1985 from Indonesia which was the largest hardwood supplier
to Japan at the end of 1970s. Domestic plywood manufacturers
changed their materials gradually from hardwood producedin Southeast Asian countries to softwood mainly producedin Russia and New Zealand in the 1990s (Table 4.2). Russianroundwood for plywood increased from 181 thousand m3 in1990 to 928 thousand m3 in 1995, 1,893 thousand m3 in 2000,
and 2,506 thousand m3 in 2005. New Zealand roundwood
for plywood also increased from 103 thousand m3 in 1990 to
603 thousand m3 in 2000.

9,129(3) Demand by the plywood industry

9,485

2010

2011

The number of sawmills in Japan was 5,927. Of these, 82.4%
were small- to middle-scale outputs of less than 150 kW. The
number of sawmills overall has declined continuously since the1970s, with the number of small- and middle-scale sawmills
decreasing significantly.

Southsea roundwood

2012

Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries “Mokuzai jyukyu
hokokusho” (issued each year)

Imports

2017
2016
2013

2014

2015

units: 1,000m3, %Figure 4.14: N umber of sawmills by output and average
power output per sawmill

Table 4.3 Plywood mill numbers and plywood supply to the domestic market
Housing
starts (000units)

Plywood mill
No.

Labor

Production(m3)

Export(m3)

Import(m3)

Supply(m3)

Selfsufficiency
rate (%)

2008

1,093.5

45

4,975

2,586,000

5,687

3,559,931

6,140,244

42

2009

788.4

38

5,587

2,287,000

6,346

2,844,088

5,124,742

45

2010

813.1

37

4,975

2,645,000

6,113

3,130,135

5,769,022

46

2011

834.1

38

4,459

2,486,000

4,250

3,666,173

6,147,923

40

2012

882.8

36

4,108

2,549,000

6,537

3,525,664

6,068,127

42

2013

980.0

33

3,818

2,811,000

7,375

3,644,640

6,448,265

44

2014

892.3

32

3,759

2,813,000

8,335

3,491,168

6,295,833

45

2015

909.3

34

3,603

2,756,000

43,1162,885,794

5,598,678

49

2016

967.2

32

3,565

3,063,000

93,5942,770,633

5,490,039

56

2017

964.6

34

3,687

3,287,000

113,856

2,904,104

6,077,248

54

Note: “supply” = ”production” + ”import” - “export”; This supply does not include inventory quantity.

Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries “Mokuzai jyukyu hokokusyo” (issued each year), Ministry of Finance “Tradestatistics of Japan” (issued each year)
been in the range of 810 thousand units to 980 thousand units
per year, with the demand for plywood corresponding with thenumber of new housing starts. Plywood is used for walls, under
flooring, concrete formwork etc. in housing construction.
The number of plywood manufacturing plants has decreased from45 in 2008 to 34 in 2017, and the number of workers in plywood
manufacturing plants has also declined from 4975 to 3687. While
plywood production in Japan has been on an upward trend inrecent years, the number of plywood manufacturing plants and thenumber of workers have decreased, so that plant size has expanded
and manufacturing productivity has increased. With domestic
production of plywood increasing, the plywood self-sufficiency
rate increased significantly from 42% in 2008 to 54% in 2017.

imports have declined since the 2000s, and domesticallyharvested roundwood has been increasing as mentioned above.
Figure 4.15 shows the time series changes. Imports declined from1.849 million m3 in 2008 to 882 thousand m3 in 2017, with domestic
supply increasing from 2.137 million m3 to 3.993 million m3 overthe same period. In the past 10 years the rankings of both havechanged and in 2017 the supply of domestic roundwood forplywood was 4.5 times the volume of roundwood imports.

Figure 4.15: R oundwood supply to the Japanese plywood
industry

Regarding final utilization, furniture manufacturers such as
Nitori and Ikea are expanding the use of roundwood fromplantation forests as raw materials.

(4) Demand by the woodchip industry
The share of domestic timber in the raw material input fordomestic woodchip mills was 99.7% in 2012. Changes in the
supply of timber for the chip industry are shown in Figure 4.15.
The supply of timber for the woodchip industry increased
rapidly until 1971 and reached a peak of 11.2 million m3 in 1985.
It decreased considerably between 1985 and 1994 and has been
declining at a slow rate since then.
The total supply of timber for the woodchip industry was around4.57 million m3 in 2012. Of this, domestic timber amounted
to 4.56 million m3 (99.7%), Southsea timber 0.006 million m3(0.1%), and North American timber 0.009 million m3 (0.2%). The
domestic share of the overall timber supply has remained stable.

The use of tropical wood (including
legal/supply issues) for the period
2008-2017
Imports of tropical roundwood (Southsea
roundwood)
In the supply of roundwood to Japan’s plywood industry, which is
the largest destination of Japan’s tropical wood imports, roundwood

50  Biennial Review 2017-2018

Source: Forestry Agency “Mokuzai jyukyuhyo” (issued each year), Ministry of
Finance “Trade statistics of Japan” (issued each year)

Figure 4.16 shows the quantity of Southsea roundwood imported
to Japan from Southeast Asia and Africa by country of origin.
This figure was made with reference to data obtained from theJapan Lumber Importers’ Association. The amount of Southsea
roundwood imported in 2007 exceeded 1 million m3, with mostof the volume provided by Sarawak state followed by Papua
New Guinea and Sabah state. By 2017 roundwood imports from
Sarawak state had drastically declined, to only 41 thousand m3,
with imports from Sabah State amounting to 71 thousand m3.
Roundwood production in Sarawak state has continued to
decline since the 1990s, and its decline has accelerated in recent
years. In addition, since Sabah state launched a new log exportban in May 2018 along with the change of administration, there

Figure 4.16: I mports of Southsea and African roundwood
to Japan

140 thousand m3 to 160 thousand m3. China has been exporting
the largest volume of Southsea sawnwood to Japan since 2008,
which amounted to over 250 thousand m3 per annum from 2008 to
2013. There has been a declining trend since then, and it remains
at 170 thousand m3 in 2017. China processes Southsea roundwood
imported from Southeast Asia and Africa into sawnwood which isthen exported to Japan. The decline in recent years may be due tothe decline in the natural forest resources in Southeast Asia. For
the same reason, imports from Malaysia have been on a downward
trend for the period and have decreased from 160 thousand m3 in2008 to 70 thousand m3 in 2017.
Figure 4.17: I mports of Southsea sawnwood into Japan

Source: Japan Lumber Importers’ Association

is a possibility that the volume of Southsea roundwood imported
in Japan will decline further.
Table 4.4 shows the changes in quantities of Southsea
roundwood imported from 2008 to 2017, by exporting country.
Changes during this period include Southsea roundwood import
reductions by Sarawak state by 91%, Solomon Islands by 88.3%,
Papua New Guinea by 71.3% and Sabah state by 40%. Basedon interviews with three general trading companies, especiallyin Sarawak and Sabah states, roundwood export volumes havebeen significantly reduced against the backdrop of natural forest
resources. It can also be pointed out that measures to counterillegal logging and illegal trade (as described later) have had an
impact on the trade in Southsea roundwood.

Units: m3, %Philippines
Malaysia Total

2008

2017

changes
in %

-

-

-

575,147

111,891

-80.5

Sabah

119,198

71,202-40.0

Sarawak

455,949

40,689

-91.0

-

-

-

Solomon

51,895  6,029

-88.3

P.N.G

100,803

28,886-71.3 W. Malaysia(Peninsular Malaysia)

Indonesia---

Others

-

-

-

TOTAL

727,845

146,806-79.8

Source: Japan Lumber Importers’ Association, Ministry of Finance “Tradestatistics of Japan”

Imports of tropical wood products (Southsea
wood products)
Imports of Southsea sawnwood had reached nearly 1 million m3
in 2000, but have continued to decline since then, decreasing byhalf between 2000 and 2007 as shown in Figure 4.17. Imports
have totalled around 600 thousand m3 annually from 2008 to
2014, declining again from 2015. In the beginning of the 2000s,
Indonesia was the largest exporter of Southsea sawnwood toJapan, exporting nearly 400 thousand m3 per year (Figure 4.17).
Since 2008 Indonesia’s exports have declined to between

Table 4.5 shows the changes in the import volumes of Southsea
sawnwood to Japan by exporting country in 2008 and 2017. During
this period, the volume of Japan’s sawnwood imports decreasedby 27%, with imports from China declining by 37.3% and from
Malaysia by 55.8%. On the other hand, imports of sawnwood
from Vietnam have more than tripled from 2008 to 2017. Basedon interviews conducted with general trading companies, it
can be concluded that (1) plantation forests have expanded in
Vietnam, (2) the production of woodchips using plantation forests
have increased, and (3) the wood processing industry has beendeveloping. Therefore, the volume of sawnwood imports from
Vietnam to Japan is expected to further increase.
Table 4.5 Imports of Southsea sawnwood to Japan
Units: m3, %
2008

2017

changes
in %

China

275,221

172,536-37.3

Taiwan

2,920

1,314

-55.0

Viet Nam

12,64441,080

224.9

Thailand

15,624

8,585

-45.1

Malaysia

159,815

70,580

-55.8
104.7

Philippines

8,447

17,292Indonesia

162,714

155,709

-4.3

2,821

324

-88.5

Myanmar

465

2,194

371.8

P. N. G.

2,477

0-100.0Laos

Others

327

444

35.8

TOTAL

643,475

470,058-27.0

Source: Japan Lumber Importers’ Association, Ministry of Finance “Tradestatistics of Japan”

Biennial Review 2017-2018  51

Chapter 4

Table 4.4 Imports of Southsea roundwood to Japan

Note: Imports do not include free board (a type of wood product) imports from2004 to 2008.
Source: Japan Lumber Importers’ Association

Imports of plywood amounted to nearly 5 million m3 peryear between the latter half of the 1990s and the first half ofthe 2000s. However, imports have gradually declined sincethen, falling to below 3 million m3 in recent years as shown in
Figure 4.18. Since 2006 Malaysia has been the most important
plywood exporting country to Japan, with exports totaling about
1.19 million m3 in 2017, followed by Indonesia with about
880 thousand m3 and China about 650 thousand m3. These three
countries accounted for 94% of imports in 2017, as shown in
Table 4.6. However, the import volume from Malaysia in 2017
was 60% of the volume in 2007, and imports from Indonesia
had also reduced by three‑quarters over the same period. Given
the decline in supply of natural forest resources in Southeast
Asian countries and the measures taken towards legal logging
and trading in Japan, plywood imports from these countries may
be further reduced. Since around 80% of domestic plywood is
made from domestic softwoods, it is considered that domesticroundwood accounts for more than 40% (roundwood equivalent)of total plywood demand. The amount of domestic roundwood
used in the plywood manufacturing industry is expected toincrease further.
While imports of roundwood from Sabah and Sarawak states havebecome increasingly difficult, Anisoptera spp. (Mersawa) from
Figure 4.18: P lywood imports to JapanPNG has been identified as suitable for plywood manufacturing,
although the PNG government is also considering banning
roundwood exports in 2020. In addition, Japan has also been
importing some Southsea wood veneers. However, Southsea
natural forest resources are becoming depleted and under stricter
regulation.
As mentioned above, Japan’s imports of tropical roundwood
have declined sharply because Japanese companies have moved
offshore to process raw materials and ship home finishedproducts. Figure 4.19 shows Japan’s imports of wooden flooringproducts (HS441875: assembled flooring panels, not of bamboo
or with at least the top layer (wear layer) of bamboo, multilayer)from the top 5 shippers in 2018. HS codes of heading 4418 aredefined as builder’s joinery and carpentry of wood, including
cellular wood panels, assembled flooring panels, shingles andshakes. Imports of HS 441875 were rare in 2008, but in recent
years imports have increased as shown in Figure 4.19. Importfrom China are the largest, accounting for 58% by quantity(5.2 million kg in total) and 52% by value (23 billion yen in total)
in 2018. Based on interviews with general trading companies,
oak and birch produced in China and Russia are used mainly
as surface materials and lauan plywood is used for the basematerial. Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand were thenext most important suppliers. Recently, due to rising prices oflauan plywood accompanying the decrease in lauan roundwood
supply, Japan’s softwood plywood is being used as base material,
so it is possible that imports will decrease gradually in the future.
In solid wood flooring, the demand for rubberwood in Thailand,
Acacia mangium in Indonesia and Malaysia, etc. is increasing,against a backdrop of price rises in Chinese wooden flooringproducts. Given this trend, there is a possibility that the quantityof solid wood flooring using roundwood from plantation forests
in Southeast Asian countries will increase in the future.
As shown in Figures 4.20 and 4.21, wooden kitchen furnitureimports also increased by 20% on a quantity basis from 2008 to2018 and by 60% on a value basis. Japan’s imports of wooden
kitchen furniture in 2018 were 41.7 million kg and 16.2 billion yen.
Vietnam was the largest supplier in 2018, accounting for 34%
of the total import quantity and 27% of the total import value,

Source: Ministry of Finance “Trade statistics of Japan”

Table 4.6 Plywood imports to Japan
Unit: 1000 m3
Total

Malaysia

Indonesia

China

TaiwanCanadaPhilippines

New Zealand

Others

2004

4,941

1,995

2,424

334

38

49

18

54

29

2005

4,570

2,177

1,848

403

18

32

22

47

23

2006

4,881

2,579

1,544

622

26

22

26

34

28

2007

4,008

2,009

1,180

668

17

35

29

45

25

2008

3,560

1,982

890

601

12

7

19

33

16

2009

2,844

1,515

847

409

6

5

12

30

20

2010

3,130

1,500

908

600

18

5

22

42

34

2011

3,666

1,554

1,061

810

20

60

31

62

68

2012

3,526

1,601

1,010

752

18

8

26

53

58

2013

3,645

1,604

1,056

786

25

6

11

54

102

2014

3,491

1,427

1,026

778

18

5

9

44

147

2015

2,886

1,200

859

649

11

2

8

24

133

2016

2,771

1,076

903

617

5

1

10

23

136

2017

2,904

1,190

878

655

0

1

5

17

158

Source: Ministry of Finance “Trade statistics of Japan”

52  Biennial Review 2017-2018

Figure 4.19: J apan’s Wooden Flooring (HS441875) Imports
from the top 5 Shippers in 2018

Source: Ministry of Finance “Trade statistics of Japan”

followed by the Philippines, China, Thailand and Malaysia.
Regarding imports from the Philippines, the average import unit
price was the highest of all suppliers. In reference to the resultsof interviews with general trading companies, one large homebuilding company has imported joinery manufactured in thePhilippines to Japan. Some Southeast Asian countries produce
flooring and furniture using hardwoods (oak, walnut, cherry etc.)
imported from North America. In recent years, Vietnam has been
the largest producer of wooden furniture in the region, followedby Thailand and Indonesia.
Figure 4.20: J apan’s Wooden Kitchen Furniture(HS940340) Imports from top 5 shippers in2018

Legal/supply issues
The Green Purchasing Law was revised in April 2006 andthe Guideline for verification on legality and sustainability ofroundwood and wood products (Goho Wood) was introduced.
The guideline, prepared by the Forestry Agency, clearly
promotes the procurement of roundwood and wood productsthat are confirmed as legal and sustainability. All roundwood andwood products are targeted for paper, stationery and materials.
For thinned roundwood and related wood products, certificationis unnecessary from the viewpoint of effective utilization ofunused resources. It covers forest owners, roundwood auction
market, wood manufacturing mills, trading companies, andgovernmental officials. The Goho Wood has three schemes asfollows; (1) in order to promote sustainable forest management,
third-party forest certified roundwood and wood products,(2) from the viewpoint of conservation of forests, thinned
roundwood and wood products, (3) from the viewpoint ofcontributing to the conservation of forests through effective
utilization of wood, effective utilization of unused resources andreuse of wood, environmentally-friendly raw materials such as
recycled materials.
The Act on Promotion of Use and Distribution of LegallyHarvested Wood and Wood Products (commonly called the
Clean Wood Act) was promulgated on May 20th, 2016 based on
legislation. It was enforced on May 20th, 2017 for “Promotion
Law”, not for “Control legislation”. This voluntary scheme hasboth “Registration” and “Due-Diligence” clauses. The purposeof the Clean Wood Act is to promote the usage and distribution oflegally harvested wood and wood products complying with lawsof both our country and country of origin (exporting country).

Source: Ministry of Finance “Trade statistics of Japan”

Figure 4.21: J apan’s Wooden Kitchen Furniture(HS940340) Imports from top 5 shippers in2018

Three leading Ministries (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries; Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; Ministryof Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism) are in chargeof the creation and operation of this Act, covering a wide rangeof timber products. It also applies to both Government related
and private distributions under the two types of registered
wood‑related entities as follows; Type-1: upstream industries
from harvesting to auction market and manufacturing, Type-2:
Others not to be categorized Type-1 (downstream industries).

Forecast of the Japanese demand fortropical timber up to 2030.
Country circumstances of origin

Source: Ministry of Finance “Trade statistics of Japan”

According to interviews with Japan Lumber Importers’
Association and three general trading companies, Sabah state in
Malaysia banned roundwood exports again in June 2018, andSarawak state also has the possibility of prohibiting roundwood
exports as natural forest resources decrease. In Sarawak state,roundwood destined for export comprises up to 30% of the

Biennial Review 2017-2018  53

Chapter 4

To increase distribution of legally-harvested woods in themarket, (1) business operators need to promote the use oflegally‑harvested wood and wood products, to review and confirm
legally-harvested wood usage aligned with the standards definedby Government, and to use “Registered Wood-related Entity” asa name for commercial and marketing. (2) Government must do
the following: (a) collect and provide information related to riskof illegal logging, (b) publicize contents of the Act, (c) instruct,advise, collect reports & on-site inspection in case, (d) publicize
best-practices, and (e) collaborate and aligned with foreigncountries and related organizations.

harvest volume. Regarding export restrictions, the Sarawak state
government is considering further strengthening the roundwood
export restriction because of chronic shortages of roundwood
supply to the Sarawak plywood industry. In Sarawak state,roundwood production has decreased from 8.715 million m3
in 2014 to 5.490 million m3 in 2017. In the first half of 2018,
production totalled 2.173 million m3. Roundwood production
from plantations increased from 0.911 million m3 in 2015, to
1.304 million m3 in 2016 and 1.635 m3 in 2017. Acacia mangium,for example, can be harvested in 10 years after planting and issuitable for woodchips and particle board, although not suitablefor plywood.

rubberwood cut down in 25 to 30 years after planting is supplied
to the wood processing industry.

Relationship between Japan’s demand andtropical wood

In Malaysia, roundwood from natural forests is mainly used
for plywood while Indonesia uses roundwood from planted
forests for plywood. Malaysia’s main market is Japan, whereas
Indonesia exports to China, the US, and Japan, and also supplies
the domestic market. In plywood supply from Indonesia, Japanis only one of a number of markets.

Plywood for concrete formwork is a demand amounting to
700 thousand m3 per year, which requires plywood made ofSouthsea raw material. Indonesian and Malaysian plywood
are used for concrete formwork and floorboards. It is distinct
from the Japanese coniferous wood plywood in terms of use.
Malaysian plywood is suitable for concrete panels, Indonesianplywood for floor bases and many versatile uses (foundationmaterial at construction sites, home center sales). Some plywood
imports are from China, and those are used for floorboards.
China and Vietnam are still considered to have poor productquality. In China, poplar veneer is used for the core and Southsea
veneer for the surfaces. Plywood imports from Vietnam are also
beginning to increase.

The number of plywood factories in tropical wood producing
countries has halved since the peak period. In the past, illegally
harvested roundwood was circulated and used for plywood, but
in recent years measures against illegal harvested roundwood indeveloped countries of Europe and the US has expanded, androundwood for the plywood industry is becoming scarce inSoutheast Asian countries. Natural forest resources that can be
harvested are becoming restricted in Southeast Asian countries,
and the response to illegal logging is becoming more severe.
The number of sawmills and the sawmilling industries are alsochanging, accompanying trends in the plywood industry. The
number of laminated timber factories handling roundwood
from plantation forests is increasing in these countries. The
production volume of rubberwood in Southeast Asian countries
is also rising, and wood processing factories that demand thisspecies have been increasing for two decades. Because it is alaminated wood, roundwood of large diameter is not necessary inprocessing. Japan tire manufacturers are investing and increasing
rubber plantations. After collection of sap from rubber forest,

According to interviews with Japan Lumber Importers’
Association and three general trading companies, there is only
one plywood manufacturing factory that mainly uses Southsea
roundwood for plywood manufacture in Japan, and there arealso a few plywood manufacturing companies using small
quantities of Southsea roundwood. Based on an interview witha general trading company, plywood made by Southsea material
has a specific demand due to high qualities such as strength,surface property, processing ease, shock absorbing property,
sound insulation property, etc., and in reality, there is no suitable
substitute. Therefore, there is a possibility that demand willcontinue for Southsea plywood of special quality. On the other
hand, another general trading company considered that Japanesecompanies are averse to importing Southsea wood because ofillegal logging measures. Unlike before, many companies areengaged in dialogue with environmental NGOs. Considering
these circumstances, it is unlikely that domestic demand forSouthsea wood will increase and it is expected that the volumeof imports will gradually decline.

54  Biennial Review 2017-2018