Japan has been the largest export market in euro terms for Versowood, Finland's largest private lumber producer, in recent years. - Now we are waiting for the Japanese yen to strengthen, which would stimulate exports. The yen, which has weakened by a third, has reduced Japan's exports and increased the country's own use of lumber. I believe that when the yen strengthens, the export of lumber and wood products will normalize, says Versowood CEO\u00a0Ville Kopra.<\/p>\n
''We have been actively trading in Japan for 25 years. Today, Heinola and Hartola's glulam factories that meet Japanese standards are fully or partially focused on Japanese production. Of our annual production of 120 thousand cubic meters of glulam, 80 thousand cubic meters are exported to Japan. Of the company's total exports to Japan, glulam accounts for about 80 percent, which means it is the largest item in Japan's exports, while the rest is sawn timber,'' says Kopra.<\/p>\n
More than 2 million cubic meters of lumber are exported from Europe to Japan every year, of which Finland's share is about a third. Among Japan's exports, glulam is the largest article, with more than 800 thousand cubic meters exported from Europe, of which about 350 thousand cubic meters from Finland.<\/p>\n
''Japan will continue to be an important export country for lumber products, as the country appreciates the properties of wood in construction, such as its beauty, visual appearance, elasticity and durability,'' reminds Kopra.<\/p>\n
In Japan, the quality of imported wood and customer meetings are valued<\/strong><\/p>\n Danish-born\u00a0Per Hansen\u00a0has worked as an agent for foreign companies importing lumber products to Japan since 1995. - I help sawmill companies in marketing their products and creating connections with local companies. Although Japan is in many ways an advanced country in terms of information technology, business in this field is not done by e-mail or telephone, but by meeting company representatives on site.<\/p>\n ''My message to Finnish companies aiming for the Japanese market is to focus on quality, which is valued in Japan. It is worth meeting customers and listening to their wishes in product development and taking into account possible changes. In Japan, a personal meeting is valued, which makes it possible to show customers a real will to deliver goods. Compared to the Nordic countries,'' we still operate here the same way as in the 1980s.<\/p>\n Hansen works in Japan primarily on the basis of orders from import companies such as Versowood that bring sawn timber for construction needs. - I cooperate primarily with companies specializing in the industrial pre-fabrication of buildings, not so much with construction companies. The company collects and prepares construction material in quantity, which is assembled at the construction site, such as Ikea furniture.<\/p>\n ''I mainly supply materials for the construction of one- or two-story detached houses. In wood construction, we use many different types of wood in different areas of construction. For example, we use local hard cedar wood in the base structures of the building because it repels wood-eating white ants and moisture. It is usually covered with spruce and then, for example, pine imported from Finland or local CLT glulam.<\/p>\n Half of the construction timber is imported from abroad<\/strong><\/p>\n Although the construction of single-family houses will decline in Japan due to the aging of the population, Hansen believes that two to three decades from now, the young generation will want their own house. - The problem is the difficulty of obtaining a loan, when the costs of construction have risen more than wages.<\/p>\n In some years before the pandemic, 800,000 detached houses were built here, but now it is at a record low of around 450,000 houses per year. When the need for wood for one house is about 20 cubic meters, the amount of wood needed for construction is large and half of it is covered by imported wood.<\/p>\n According to Hansen, the main material for single-family home construction is, of course, wood. ''I believe that when it comes to construction using wood, Japan will rise to the same level as, for example, Austria is now among European countries. The growth of wood construction can also be seen in public areas such as the construction of libraries, service and student buildings''<\/p>\n Japan has large forest resources that can be compared to Finland, but the degree of self-sufficiency in the use of wood has risen from about 30 percent to about 50 percent. - Imported wood is therefore needed, even though domestic production has been increased, for example in the manufacture of glulam, and much more competition has arisen over the years. When the yen has been weak, they have been able to capture more market shares from imported wood.<\/p>\n ''Although there is much more domestic competition now, we lumber import companies have had good years. When construction here is challenged by typhoons and earthquakes, the materials used in construction must be high-quality, strong wood,'' Hansen says.<\/p>\n The Japanese government's goal is to increase the use of its own forests<\/strong><\/p>\n According to Hansen, the Japanese government wants to rapidly increase the felling of forests planted after the war. - That's why the government supports logging, the sawmill industry and the use of wood for energy production. If in Europe they try to limit the use of forests in the fight against climate change, the opposite is true here.<\/p>\n ''Here, climate change does not play any role in forest policy. When I was in Helsinki at a seminar, they only talked about climate change and forest sinks. I feel that in Europe this topic arises more from politics than from the needs of forests. Here, too, there are companies that market wood as an ecological alternative, although ultimately the price is decisive.''<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Japan has been the largest export market in euro terms for Versowood, Finland’s largest private lumber producer, in recent years. – Now we are waiting for the Japanese yen to strengthen, which would stimulate exports. The yen, which has weakened … Continue reading