Forestry Agency to Set Up Local Timber Distribution and Processing System

The Forestry Agency of Japan will launch a new distribution and processing system for timber in 2004 that will promote better use of locally produced timber and sound development of the forest product industry.

Traditionally, the distribution and processing system has focused on solid structural wood products. This system, however, needs to be reformed to promote the use of locally produced domestic timber. The Agency aims to restructure the overall system to promote the production of laminated wood, plywood and wood for interior use from crooked timber and plantation thinnings, which have been underutilized, and to create a steady supply of these products at low cost to major buyers such as large-scale house construction companies.

This new system will first be tested in five pilot areas in the Tohoku and Kyushu regions. To promote restructuring of the forest product industry, the Agency will subsidize the introduction of forestry equipment, the creation of stock yards at mountain bases, and the transformation of sawmills into laminating plants in these pilot areas.

Japan's timber self-sufficiency rate is less than 20 percent, while many plantation forests are in need of thinning to accelerate growth. However, financial resources are not sufficient to cover the cost of thinning plantations, as the domestic timber industry is struggling due to the increasing share of imported timber. Also domestic forestry workers have been aging. Thus, the promotion of local timber use and the revitalization of the forest product industry are significant issues.



Posted: 2004/01/20 09:02:42 AM
Japanese version