Coniferous Sawnwood

Coniferous sawnwood consumption in the Asia-Pacific region totalled 55 million m³ in 1992, 18% of the global consumption (Table 25). Japan (33 million m³) and China (12 million m³) were the largest consumers, comprising over 80% of the region's total consumption. Japan's consumption fluctuated with its economic cycles over the last three decades, and had a generally declining trend. China's consumption had grown steadily until the late 1980s, when it stagnated due to lack of forest resources and substitutions of other materials such as metals and concrete. In recent years, consumption has tended to decline, even though the construction industry has been booming. This phenomenon was not due to market forces, rather it resulted from government policies that required increased use of wood substitutes. In contrast to Japan and China, consumption in the Republic of Korea, India and Australia increased substantially in the 1980s, and together these countries accounted for about 14% of the region's total consumption in 1992.

Table 24. Direction of trade in chips, particles and wood residues, in thousand m³, 1999,

Table 25. Consumption of coniferous sawnwood, in thousand m³, 1962-1992.

Country	1962	1972	1982	1992
Australia	1341	1572	2142	2578
Bangladesh
Bhutan
Cambodia
China	6370	9549	14482	11780
Fiji	11	28	9	-47
French Polynesia	11	26	32	50
Hong Kong	8	19	18	-3
India	571	742	1915	2502
Indonesia	26	32	3	111
Japan	22593	34479	30750	32853
Korea Dem People's Rep	185	185	185	185
Korea Rep	398	683	1994	2846
Laos
Macau	0	0	0	0
Malaysia	1	8	48	-11
Myanmar
Nepal	28	10	10	20
New Caledonia	6	17	31	23
New Zealand	1415	1488	1743	1573
Pakistan	36	223	99	577
Papua New Guinea	10	18	46	43
Philippines	0	0	0	5
Samoa	5	4	16	2
Singapore	11	14	36	22
Solomon Islands	0	0	0	0
Sri Lanka	3	0	5	0
Thailand
Tonga	0	0	2	1
Vanuatu	4	3	1	0
Viet Nam	30	69	53	-50
Asia Pacific	33063	49169	53620	55060
World	269714	333923	311121	315386
Share	12%	15%	17%	18%

Production of coniferous sawnwood in the region totalled at 46 million m³ in 1992, or 15% of the world's total (Table 26). The largest producers in the region were Japan, China, the Republic of Korea, India, New Zealand, and Australia. Of the region's total production, Japan accounted for more than 52%, while China had nearly 25%. Inmost countries, production rose in concert with consumption. In Japan and China, however, production decreased. In Japan, production peaked at 33 million m³ in 1978 and fluctuated around 25 million m since then. In China, production increased steadily until 1985 to a high of 18 million m³. After that, China's production decreased to a low of 12 million m³ in 1992.

Table 26. Production of coniferous sawnwood, in thousand m³, 1962-1992.

Country	1962	1972	1982	1992
Australia	859	918	1285	1558
Bangladesh
Bhutan
Cambodia
China	6400	9660	14488	11452
Fiji	0	15	13	40
French Polynesia
Hong Kong
India	567	742	1914	2500
Indonesia	26	32	23	138
Japan	22036	32434	26480	24423
Korea Dem People's Rep	185	185	185	185
Korea Rep	360	770	2153	2810
Laos
Macau
Malaysia	1	53	91	69
Myanmar
Nepal	28	10	10	20
New Caledonia	2	2	0	0
New Zealand	1447	1737	2242	2465
Pakistan	34	208	68	577
Papua New Guinea	14	32	46	43
Philippines	0	0	0	4
Samoa
Singapore
Solomon Islands
Sri Lanka
Thailand
Tonga	0	0	2	1
Vanuatu	0	2	0	0
Viet Nam	30	69	52	102
Asia Pacific	31989	46869	49052	46387
World	270027	334232	312985	320986
Share	12%	14%	16%	15%

Imports and exports of coniferous sawnwood have concerned a few countries in the region. Tables 27 and 28 summarize the import and export trends by country and territory, between 1962 and 1992. Total imports roughly doubled every ten years over the last three decades, and reached 10 million m in 1992, about 13% of the world's total imports. The largest importers in 1992 were Japan with 8.4 million m³ and Australia with 1 million m³. China's imports have also gradually increased since 1980.

Table 27. Imports of coniferous sawnwood, in thousand m³, 1962-1992.

Country	1962	1972	1982	1992
Australia	515	665	868	1030
Bangladesh
Bhutan
Cambodia
China	1	2	6	367
Fiji	11	15	0	0
French Polynesia	11	26	32	50
Hong Kong	8	22	18	23
India	4	0	1	2
Indonesia	0	0	0	0
Japan	658	2072	4276	8433
Korea Dem People's Rep
Korea Rep	38	13	8	121
Laos
Macau	0	0	0	0
Malaysia	0	1	3	16
Myanmar
Nepal
New Caledonia	4	15	31	23
New Zealand	45	13	14	20
Pakistan	2	15	31	0
Papua New Guinea	0	1	0	0
Philippines	0	0	0	1
Samoa	3	4	18	2
Singapore	0	0	17	11
Solomon Islands	0	0	0	0
Sri Lanka	3	0	5	0
Thailand
Tonga
Vanuatu	4	1	1	0
Viet Nam	0	0	1	16
Asia Pacific	1307	2865	5330	10115
World	38225	57138	59924	77280
Share	3%	5%	9%	13%

The Asia-Pacific countries exported very little coniferous sawnwood. The total exports in 1992 were 1.5 million m³, or only 2% of the world's total. New Zealand was the only important exporter: nearly 1 million m³ in 1992, or 62% of the region's total.

Table 29 shows the direction of trade in coniferous sawnwood in 1992, among the Asia-Pacific countries and with other parts of the world. The region has been a net importer of coniferous sawnwood. In 1992, the major importers in the region for New Zealand's sawnwood were Australia with 694 thousand m, Japan with 272, China with 66, and Republic of Korea with 42. Outside the region, the United States has been the main destination of New Zealand's coniferous sawnwood. In contrast, the region imported almost one-fifth of the total coniferous sawnwood it consumed from other regions of the world, mostly from North America. In 1992, the region imported 5.6 million m³ from Canada and 2.1 million m from the USA. Japan (8.4 million m) has been the leading importer of the region, followed by Australia (1.5 million m³), China (528 thousand m³) and the Republic of Korea (184 thousand m³). Figure 7 illustrates the historical trend of Japanese imports of coniferous sawnwood from the major suppliers. The imports from Canada and USA have increased significantly since 1986. However, since 1990, USA's exports have declined after making steady gains during the 1980s, due to the harvest restrictions related to the Spotted owl and other environmental concerns, meanwhile, Canadian exports have seen strong increases.

Table 28. Exports of coniferous sawnwood, in thousand m³, 1962-1992.

Country	1962	1972	1982	1992
Australia	33	11	11	10
Bangladesh
Bhutan
Cambodia
China	31	113	12	39
Fiji	0	2	4	87
French Polynesia
Hong Kong	0	3	0	26
India	0	0	0	0
Indonesia	0	0	20	27
Japan	101	27	6	3
Korea Dem People's Rep
Korea Rep	0	100	167	85
Laos
Macau
Malaysia	0	46	46	96
Myanmar
Nepal
New Caledonia
New Zealand	77	262	513	912
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea	4	15	0	0
Philippines
Samoa
Singapore	11	14	19	11
Solomon Islands
Sri Lanka
Thailand
Tonga
Vanuatu
Viet Nam	0	0	0	168
Asia pacific	257	593	798	1464
World	38538	57447	61788	82880
Share	1%	1%	1%	2%

Table 29. Direction of trade in coniferous sawnwood, in thousand m³, 1992.

Figure 7. Japanese softwood lumber imports from major suppliers (Source: Robertson and Waggener 1995).