On March 9, a briefing session was held at Shinkiba Center Building under the title “How long does preserved wood last?” This event was held by Japan Wood Preservers Industry Association (JWPIA) to publish the results of its studies on the durability of preserved wood which was implemented as a project of fiscal 2011 assisted by Forestry Agency. In the event, Yoshimitsu
Ohashi, Professor of Tokyo City University delivered a lecture “Promotion of Wood Usage for Public Buildings”. The hall was filled with 200 people related to the lumber and the construction industries.
The Forestry Agency recently held a meeting concerning the supply and demand of lumber in Japan and drew up the short-term forecast for the supply and demand of main lumber for the 2nd quarter (April through June) and the 3rd quarter (July through September) of 2012. With the actual housing start figure up to January slowing down and declining from the previous year level, new housing starts for 2012, which the forecast is based upon, was revised downward from 890,000 units in the previous forecast to 866,000 units.
As for the demand for the main lumber in the 2nd quarter, as the reconstruction demand is expected to increase, the demand for domestic lumber is forecasted to increase from the previous year. With the purchasing motivation weakening in Japan due to the rise of local prices, the demand for European lumber is also expected to decline by around 10 percent compared to the strong demand level during the same period in the previous year.
In the 3rd quarter, the demand for both domestic lumber and imported lumber is forecasted to increase slightly from the 3rd quarter in the previous year. The demand for North American lumber products is also expected to increase from the 3rd quarter in the previous year due to several factors
including the reconstruction demand and the recovery in housing starts. The import of European lumber is also forecasted to recover with the increase in the demand expected. The supply-and-demand level for Southsea lumber products and Russian lumber products is forecasted to remain at the same level with the 3rd quarter in the previous year, but the supply-and-demand level for Russian logs is forecasted to increase by around 40 percent from the previous year due to the effect of the lower export tariff rate.
