There has been a steady decline in the volume of Japan’s plywood imports in 1H 2020

The volume of plywood imports dropped 28% YoY in 1H of 2020. Indonesia and Malaysia are the top shippers of plywood to Japan accounting for over 80% of all plywood imports. In June arrivals from Malaysia were down 26% compared to May and YoY June imports were around 13% down. In contrast, the volume of June imports from Indonesia was around the same level as in May and were marginally lower than in June 2019.

Plywood imports from China are small at about 10.000 m³ monthly but was noticeable in 1H import data is that shipments of plywood from Vietnam were for the first time greater than from China.