Japanese plywood imports declined 3.8 % to around 3.526 million m3 last year. Plywood deliveries had thus recovered a little again in the second half of 2012. Imports were down 12.6 % in the first half of the year, according to the Japan Lumber Journal. However, the impact of the earthquake and tsunami at the start of March 2011 must be considered when reviewing these figures, especially for the first half of 2012: Japanese plywood imports skyrocketed in the first few weeks and months after the natural disaster. As a result, imports fell between March and June 2012 when compared with 2011. By contrast, Japanese plywood imports bounced back 18 % in the final quarter of 2012 to stand at 940,843m3, primarily driven by much higher imports from Malaysia.
