Two-month wood exports to Japanese market sees slight fall

During the first two months of the year, the export turnover of wood and wood products to the Japanese market hit an estimated US$273 million, up 0.6% over the same period from last year.

During the first month of the year, although the export turnover of wood and wood products to the Far East nation showed signs of improvement, the export to this highly lucrative market in the year ahead is forecast remain unsatisfactory as consumer demand in the Japanese market has slowed, thereby driving the Japanese economy to fall into recession in the fourth quarter of 2023.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, Japanese gross domestic product (GDP) witnessed an annual decrease of 0.4%, after suffering a 3.3% decline in the third quarter of 2023.

The major cause of Japan's economic decline is that domestic demand in all sectors are falling, including private consumption.

Only external demand, expressed through the export value of goods and services, contributed to an increase in GDP growth. Furthermore, weak consumer demand has caused imports of goods, especially non-essential goods such as wood and wood products, to slow down in the Japanese market.

For wood chips and wood pellets, import demand in Japan decreased slightly in January.

Vietnam represented the second largest wooden furniture supply market for Japan in January, reaching 12.5 thousand tonnes worth YEN5.2 billion, equivalent to US$34.6 million, down 20.6% in volume and down 13.5% in value compared to January, 2023.

In contrast to the less positive factors, the export of wood and wood products to the Far East nation is also supported such as wood chips and wood pellets.

Japan is therefore focusing on developing many thermal power plants using wood chips and pellets, with this trend of increasing imports expected to continue in the near future, opening up new opportunities for the Vietnamese wood industry.