In 2022, Japan’s imports of lumber edged up 1.2% to 4.9 million m3. The value of imports grew 18.0% to $3.0 billion. The average price for lumber expanded 17% to $614 per m3.

Despite market stayed flat, European companies managed to increase lumber shipments to Japan by 19.5%, while exports from Canada and Russia declined by 23.5% and 8.1%, respectively. Exports of lumber from EU to Japan reached 2.6 million m3 in 2022.

Canada’s share amounted to 19.1% (-6.2 pp) of Japan’s total lumber imports in 2022. Canada is Japan’s biggest lumber exporter with second-ranked Sweden at 17.2% (+1.6 pp) of total exports, while Finland takes 17.1% (+2.1 pp) and Russia 15.8% (-1.6 pp).