BUSINESS

Wood shortage and soaring prices threaten lumber industry in Japan

Piles of lumber are stored outside a sawmill in the city of Shibushi, Kagoshima Prefecture, in August last year. Although about 70% of Japan's land is covered by forests, roughly half of the lumber used for housing construction is imported, according to the Forestry Agency. | KYODO

By Kazuaki Nagata
STAFF WRITER

Jun 6, 2021

A global shortage of wood and soaring prices are threatening Japan’s lumber industry and has business operators fearing serious damage to the domestic market.

With demand rising in the United States and China, where the national economies are picking up, lumber prices have skyrocketed and Japanese firms are struggling to procure material.

“I am not sure how long this is going to go on and how it will affect wood demand in Japan,” said Katsumi Tannaka, president of Butsurin Co., a Tokyo-based trading firm specializing in lumber.

Wood shortage and soaring prices threaten lumber industry in Japan

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