Japanese imports down by 41%

Article by Gerd Ebner (adapted for holzkurier.com; translated by Eva Guzely) | 29.09.2023 - 10:45

In the first eight months, Japan’s softwood lumber imports fell by 41%. 2 million m³ were imported in total, of which 1.1 million m³ or 45% were bought from European countries.

The decreases affect all of Japan’s most important supplying countries. In fact, none of them saw increases so far this year. The Top 3 supplying countries recorded decreases ranging from 33% (Canada) to 41% (Sweden).

Russian softwood lumber shipments to Japan fell by 50% so far. Austria was hit even harder, with a 53% decrease in eight months that brings the total down to only 106,000 m³. All data are collected and published by Statistics of Japan.