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Japan
Wood Products Prices
Dollar
Exchange Rates of 13th April
2007
Japan
Yen 119.18
Reports
From Japan
Log prices ease as mills increase use of softwood species
Prices for tropical logs were stable or declining in early April in Japan. Prices for meranti and kapur logs remained
unchanged while those for meranti small and super small declined slightly (down $3 per m3) as Japanese plywood
mills increased the use of softwood species and reduced consumption of tropical species. In Sabah, Malaysia, log
suppliers were bullish due to the strengthening of the ringit against the US dollar. Prices for seraya have surged about $10 per m3.
Japanese imports of plywood slow down in early 2007
Plywood imports rose slightly to 447,791 m3 (￥30.3 billion) in January, up 0.3% (up 51% in value) from a year
earlier. However, the expansion of plywood imports has slowed down in early 2007 due to large import volumes
during the second half of 2006. By import source, 227,000
m3 came from Malaysia (down 8.3% and the first annual reduction in six months), 145,000 m3 from Indonesia (up
2%) and 63,000 m3 from China (up 29%). By wood species, imports of hardwood plywood fell 8% to 334,000 m3 while those of softwood plywood surged 155.5% to
8,000 m3.
Housing starts fall for second consecutive month
Total housing starts fell to 87,369 units in February, down 9.9% from a year ago and the second consecutive monthly
decline (see chart). The decline was due to reductions in own, rental and built-for-sale houses. Wood-based units
accounted for 42% of the total housing starts, down from 43% in the previous month. Seasonally adjusted annual
housing starts fell to under 1.2 million in February.
Hashimoto develops mechanical green veneer jointer
Hashimoto Denki Co. Ltd. has developed a high speed green veneer jointer called ‘STJ-37 staple jointer’. The
machine mechanically joins green veneer for core with urethane resin staples. The jointer is said to be faster and
of easy maintenance, compared with traditional hot melt joint. It joins short veneers into specified size and
minimizes labour when veneers go into the dryer.
Hashimoto will advertise the jointer combined with veneer feeder as “Eco-joint System”. Traditional hot melt method
of green veneer joint is hard to speed up so Hashimoto came up with the idea to use urethane staples to join green veneer mechanically. The first jointer will be delivered to
Shinyei Plywood in April.
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Abbreviations
| LM
Loyale Merchant, a grade of log parcel |
Cu.m
Cubic Metre |
| QS
Qualite Superieure |
Koku
0.278 Cu.m or 120BF |
| CI
Choix Industriel
|
FFR
French Franc |
| CE
Choix Economique
|
SQ
Sawmill Quality |
| CS
Choix Supplimentaire |
SSQ
Select Sawmill Quality |
| FOB
Free-on-Board |
FAS
Sawnwood Grade First and |
| KD
Kiln Dry |
Second |
| AD
Air Dry
|
WBP
Water and Boil Proof |
| Boule
A Log Sawn Through and Through |
MR
Moisture Resistant |
|
the boards from one log are bundled |
pc
per piece |
|
together |
ea
each |
| BB/CC
Plywood grades. Letter(s) on the left indicate
face veneer(s), those on the right backing veneer(s). Veneer grade
decreases in order B, BB, C, CC, etc. |
MBF
1000 Board Feet
|
|
Plywood |
MDF
Medium Density Fibreboard |
| BF
Board Foot |
F.CFA CFA Franc
|
| Sq.Ft
Square Foot |
PHND
Pin hole no defect grade |
| Hoppus ton 1.8 cubic
metres |
 
Price has moved up or down |
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