Canadian Log Exports to Japan Witnessed Declining Trend

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The latest trade data published by the Japan Lumber Importers’ Association signals drastic decline in log exports from Canada to Japan during the recent months. The shipments recorded sharp decline by 77% during the initial five-month period of the year to nearly 97,380 square meters. The log shipments bottomed out to near-zero levels in April. Also, the imports in May this year were only around 5% of the imports in the same month a year before.

The reduced log imports from Canada will impact the use of Japanese lumber. Incidentally, Japan relies on other countries for almost 60% supply of wood products. In 2019, Canada accounted for almost 28% of the total Japanese log imports, second only to the U.S., which accounted for 50% of the log import market share.

Meantime, the Japanese Ministry declared that it would file a formal complaint with the Canadian government in case it finds that the country has violated the terms and conditions of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), by refusing export permits to the country without a valid reason. A side deal to the agreement also states that Canada must grant log export permits upon request, not only in the event of domestic surplus.

Incidentally, Japanese trading houses consider Canadian logs to be of better quality, than logs from the U.S.

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