Pulpwood Supply to the Paper Industry

Abstract

Tuned to the growth of the Japanese economy after World War II, the paper and pulp industry of Japan has continued its growth. In 2000, the industry produced 31, 800, 000 tons of paper and paperboard, which is the second largest volume in the world. Pulp and recovered paper support this production volume.The utilization rate of recovered paper was 50% in 1990 and has since then been increasing year after year. In 2000, utilization rate of recovered paper exceeded 57% and this rate is targeted to 60% in five years.In the area of pulp utilization, the consumption rate of imported pulp has been slightly declining, but has generally been leveling off. The overall consumption rate of pulp has been declining by this slight decline. Pulp consumption as a whole has been decreasing. This is attributed to decrease of domestic pulpwood consumption. The consumption rate of imported pulpwood is increasing steadily. In 1989, the rate between domestic and imported pulpwood consumption was reversed and the gap has been expanding since then. In 2000, the rate of imported pulpwood reached 70%. Since 1990, Japanese pulp and paper manufacturers are actively undertaking overseas industrial plantations. As a result, more chips will be imported to Japan and the import rate of foreign pulpwood will increase further.