Japan reports import declining In April

Source:
ITTO/Fordaq
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Year on year, the value of Japan's wooden door imports in April dropped a further 16% adding to the year on year decline seen in March. April import values for wooden doors (HS441820) dipped 8% from March. As in previous months shippers in China and the Philippines dominated Japan’s April 2020 imports of wooden doors. The main shipper, China accounted for 70% of total door imports, up sharply from the 47% in March. Shippers in the Philippines saw a decline in market share in April slipping to just 11% from the 24% contribution in March. The third largest shipper in April was Indonesia which contributed a further 9% to all wooden door imports.

The value of wooden windows (HS441810) imports into Japan in the first four months of 2020 mirrors the trend seen with wooden door imports, a steep decline in February followed by a recovery in March and then a slight drop in April. Year on year, April window imports continued the downward trend observed this year. The value of April imports was 16% below that of April 2019 and month on month there was a 4% decline.
Shipments from manufacturers in China took a large share of imports in April, rising to 45% from the 39% in March. Imports from the US, the second largest shipper in April were at the same level as in March but it was shippers in the Philippines which saw a sharp decline in shipments, dropping to just 8% in April from 18% in March.

In both February and March there was a decline in the value of month on month imports of assembled wooden flooring (HS441871-79) but in April there was a correction bringing the total value of imports back up to the levels observed of the past months. Year on year the value of April assembled wooden flooring imports of Japan were flat but month on moth there was a huge 64% increase. Two categories of imports HS441875 and HS441879 accounted for most of the flooring imports. The largest value of imports was of HS441875 (66% of imports) followed by HS441879 (25% of imports). Manufacturers in China accounted for most of the HS441875 while imports of HS441879 were fairly even split between Australia (according to ITTO an unexpected source), Indonesia and China.

Over the 12 months to April 2020 there has been a slight increase in Japan’s imports of plywood from the top three shippers, Indonesia, Malaysia and China. However, April import volumes were 10% less than in April 2019 but held steady compared to the volumes that arrived in March. Indonesia and Malaysia are the top shippers of plywood to Japan accounting for over 80% of all plywood imports. In April arrivals from Indonsia were at the same level as in March but arrivals from Malaysia dipped 11%. China is the third ranked plywood supplier to Japan and in April shipments almost doubled. Exporters in Vietnam have a consistent market share in Japan and in April shipments of plywood rose around 10% month on month.

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