Year-on-year, the volume of Japan’s January 2019 imports of plywood were down 9%, but compared the volume of imports in December there was a steep rise in January imports due mainly to a 34% rise in shipments from Malaysia.

Plywood

Japan’s plywood imports down 9% in January

Year-on-year, the volume of Japan’s January 2019 imports of plywood were down 9%, but compared the volume of imports in December there was a steep rise in January imports due mainly to a 34% rise in shipments from Malaysia (68,000 cubic metres in December 2018 to 91,200 cubic metres in January 2019), as ITTO reported.

As was the case in 2018, three supply countries continued to account for over 85% of Japan’s imports of plywood in January 2019. Malaysia, Indonesia and China dominate plywood imports but shippers in Vietnam are steadily securing market share.

January shipments from China were little changed year-on-year and month on month but Indonesian shipments were down 17% compared to January 2018 and were down 11% compared to a month earlier.