Japan’s plywood imports from China over 20% lower in May 2020

Until March 2020 Japan reported a slight increase imports of plywood from the top three shippers, Indonesia, Malaysia and China. Starting in April and so far statistically recognized also in May import volumes trended down. Plywood imports from China in May were over 20% lower than in May 2019.

Indonesia and Malaysia are the top shippers of plywood to Japan accounting for over 80% of all plywood imports. In May arrivals from Malaysia were up 13% year on year and imports from Indonesia were up 21% year on year. Despite the better year on year performance, overall, import volumes have started to decline.