Japanese imports of logs reached 2,444,000 cbms in 2015, a drop of 19.8% as compared to 2014. This is a considerable drop compared to imports of lumber.
According to data of Japan's Lumber Importers Association, Japan's lumber imports from North America for the first eleven months of last year reached 2,089,000 cbms, only 1.4% less than in 2014.
The largest reason of the falling logs import is the drop of Douglas fir logs demand by Japanese plywood mills in 2015. Plywood mills in Japan had many production curtailments last year, so that the demand of logs declined considerably. Actually, imports of logs from Canada in 2015 dropped more than 30%.
Canadian Douglas fir logs are mainly used by plywood mills in Japan. The market for Canadian Douglas fir logs used for lumber manufacturing has been steady as the supply got tight since late last year, so the prices remain firm. Inquiries from plywood mills continue dull and slow.
There are two straight years already of decline of log imports from North America.
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