Major Japanese trading houses are moving to increase the output of pulpwood chips abroad as their attempts to stabilize supply through forestation projects overseas have begun to bear fruit.
The chips are used as raw materials for producing paper for photocopiers and other uses, said officials of the trading houses, including Nissho Iwai Corp., Marubeni Corp. and Mitsui & Co.
The firms began to plant eucalyptus and acacia trees in countries that include Vietnam and Australia jointly with paper and pulp makers in the early 1990s, in response to the rise of global concerns about deforestation.