Japan’s plywood imports in 2017

Japan’s plywood imports in 2017 at almost 250,000 cu.m
were 4% higher than in 2016. Year on year shipments
from China were down 3%, Indonesian shipments were
down 5% which left Malayia accounting for the rise in
2017 imports. Shipments from Malaysia were up around
9.5% year on year.

The surge in first quarter 2017 imports was due to the high
volumes arriving in Japan from Malaysia and Indonesia
however the level of shipments slpiped in subsequent
quarters. Over 85% of 2017 plywood imports into Japan
comprised HS 441231 with a further 8% being HS
441234.