ECOLOGICAL CONCERN BRINGS DOWN TROPICAL LOG IMPORTS. [JEJ] BY
NOBUYUKI OISHI Staff writer User Industries Prepare For Costly
Overhaul To Switch To Conifers. Japan, the world's largest
importer of tropical timber, is rapidly cutting down its use of
the equatorial trees.
Tropical log importers, under fire from environmentalists and hurt
by falling demand from the construction industry, imported 11.1
million cubic meters in 1990, 11.6% less than in 1989. And
imports between January and April this year were 6.3% lower than
the same period a year ago.
"In five years, our tropical log imports will drop 40-50% and in
10 years such imports will probably fall almost to zero," said
Akira Taniguchi, general manager of Marubeni Corp.'s lumber and
wood products department. At C.Itoh and Co., tropical log imports
will likely fall 10-20% this year, a company official said.
Japan accounts for about 40% of the international tropical log
trade. A key reason for the reduction in imports is a recent move
by Malaysia to restrict tropical log exports in favor of boosting
its finished wood products trade. In 1990, Japan imported 92% of
its tropical timber from Malaysia. The Yokohama- based
International Tropical Timber Organization, a United Nations
agency, in late 1990 called on Malaysia to reduce by 32% forest
logging in the East Malaysian state of Sarawak.
Environmental concern among users, coupled with rising prices of
tropical logs, is prompting producers and users to use different
kinds of timber, particularly fast-growing coniferous trees. In
1989, 77% of Japanese tropical timber imports were used for
plywood, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
said. Obayashi Corp., a leading general contractor, recently began
using coniferous timber plywood in its concrete-forming panels.
"About one-quarter of tropical log imports to Japan are used for
concrete-forming panels. Now we must reduce consumption," said
Kanji Sakai, general manager of Obayashi's global environment
department.
Meanwhile, Japan's largest plywood producer, Seihoku Corp.'s group
of companies, which accounts for some 25% of total plywood output
in Japan, plans to more than quadruple production of conifer
plywood by March 1992. Officials said the shift is not easy
because coniferous trees are narrower than tropical trees and
more difficult to process, requiring special machinery. Yutaka
Maki, managing director of Seihoku, estimated the group must
invest about 5-6 billion yen a year the next few years in
machinery to make the change.
Trading houses, Japan's leading importers of tropical logs, have
responded quickly to changing conditions. Nissho Iwai Corp. and
Juken Sangyo Co., a major construction material company, recently
started building a conifer plywood plant in New Zealand, which
the firms hope will replace Malaysia as a major supplier of logs.
The plant is due to start production next spring. New Zealand and
Chile, which both have large coniferous forests, are likely to
become major suppliers of coniferous timber, according to
Michimasa Yoshida, manager at Mitsubishi's lumber department.
Some trading companies are also increasing production of
substitute materials for tropical timber. Marubeni, for example,
in a tie-th a Malaysian company, Hume Industries Malaysia Bhd.,
will start producing boards made from abandoned rubber trees by
the end of this year at a site near Kuala Lumpur. "But we are not
reducing imports of tropical logs purely for consideration of
environmental protection - we do business based on users' needs,"
said one trading house official. (c) Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc.
NIKKEI WEEKLY 13/7/91