How have Japanese forest products markets fared in 2009?
Japanese housing starts have been declining steadily since 2006 and are forecast to fall to about 765,000 in 2009, from 1.06 million in 2008 (-28%) and 1.29 million in 2006 (-41%). This will likely improve somewhat during the coming economic upturn, but forecasts indicate that Japanese housing starts could take three years just to get back to 900,000 units by 2013. Changing population demographics and the construction of better-quality/longer-lasting single-family homes should lead to permanent reductions from the level achieved in 2000 2006 of around 1.2 million units. The Russian log export tax that currently is at a minimum of Euro15/m3 (25%) has drastically reduced Russian log imports from five million m3 in 2006 to an estimated 800,000 m3 in 2009 (-84%). Paralleling with reduced Russian log imports, Japanese lumber imports have fallen steadily from 10.3 million m3 in 2000 to an estimated 5.9 million m3 in 2009 (-43%). Since 2006, lumber imports have decreased from 8.9 million m3 t
Related Questions
- Where can I find country data on forests and markets? Do you have information on prices of wood and forest products?
- Where can I obtain information on foreign markets and trade opportunities for agricultural products?
- Does the advent of certification programs for forest products reduce the need for licensing?
