Why does Japan increase imports of wood chips and pellets from Vietnam?

Wood chips are gathered by businesses at Cai Lan port (Quang Ninh) waiting to be packed in containers for export - Photo: PHAN HAU

Citing statistics from the General Department of Customs (Ministry of Finance), the Ministry of Industry and Trade said that in June, the export value of wood and wood products to the Japanese market reached US$135 million, down 18.8%. compared to June 2022.

Generally in the first 6 months of the year, the export value of wood and wood products to the Japanese market reached US$812.8 million, down 3.8% over the same period in 2022. Notably, wood chips and wood products. Wood pellets have the highest added value in the group of wood products and wood products of Vietnam exported to the Japanese market.

Specifically, the export value of wood chips reached 316.5 million USD, up 5.5% over the same period in 2022, accounting for 38.94% of the total export value. Wood pellets recorded an export value of 191.1 million USD, up 27% over the same period in 2022.

Also according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the export of wood chips and wood pellets to the Japanese market grew strongly in the first half of the year because the country is developing many thermal power plants using wood chips and wood pellets as fuel. It is forecasted that in the coming time, the demand for wood chips and wood pellets in Japan will continue to increase.

According to a report by Forest Trends in collaboration with the Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association and the Binh Dinh Timber and Forest Products Association, announced in early July, Vietnam has become a producer country. and the second largest tablet exporter in the world, after the US. In the past 10 years, the volume and value of Vietnam's pellet exports increased by 28 and 34 times, respectively.

For the Japanese market, in addition to long-term import and export orders (signed contracts for 10 - 15 years), a number of Japanese enterprises now also perform short-term contracts with a number of suppliers. Vietnam.

Japan is also a market that requires export pellets to have a voluntary standard certificate to support responsible forest management on a global scale (FSC). Currently, raw materials for pellets exported to Japan are sourced from domestically planted forest wood, mainly from acacia trees.

Information from businesses, currently, each year Japan uses about 8 million tons of pellets, of which 50 - 60% are wood pellets. It is expected that by 2030, Japan will have an annual consumption demand of over 20 million tons of pellets, of which the amount of wood pellets will account for about 13-15 million tons. This will be a great opportunity for Vietnamese businesses, especially those with stable input materials and FSC certificates, large-scale production plants, and methodical management.