Panels & Furniture Asia May/June 2020

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8 | NEWS May / June 2020, Issue 3 | Panels & Furniture Asia NEW FOREST LAW TO CRACK DOWN ON ILLEGAL TIMBER IN CHINA CHINA’S government has implemented a new forest law that will take effect on 1 July 2020, reported ITTO. Article 65 of the newly revised Forest Law clearly states that a timber processing enterprise shall establish an entry and storage account for raw materials and products. No unit or individual may purchase, process or transport trees of illicit origin, knowing that they have been cut or cut indiscriminately. This provision will provide a clearer legal basis to crack down on illegal timber purchasing, processing and transportation. It will also provide a clearer legal guide for timber processing enterprises to fulfill their duty of due diligence on timber legality. P OSHIKA DEVELOPED LIGNIN PHENOL ADHESIVE FOR PLYWOOD OSHIKA Corporation (Tokyo), adhesive manufacturer, has developed lignin phenol adhesive for plywood manufacturing. It has been testing this new adhesive at Niigata Gouhan Shinko and has acquired JAS certificate on January 7, 2020. Lignin is derived from wood and is an important component in the formation of cell walls in wood and bark. Softwood contains 25-30 per cent lignin while hardwood contains 20- 25 per cent lignin. When manufacturing paper and pulp, lignin is usually removed and used as fuel. However, since it plays a role in bonding fibres in wood with phenolic polymers, it is expected to be used as a renewable resource in adhesive materials. For the last 10 years, Oshika has been studying how to turn plant-originated materials into adhesive since corporations are now moving away from fossil fuelsderived materials and are racing to develop environmentally friendly materials. The lignin used by Oshika is procured from UPM Kymmene of Finland. Kymmene has been manufacturing resin from renewable materials like wood and owns a biorefinery business. Lignin is blended with phenol resin and reacts with formalin to make lignin phenol adhesive. Acquired JAS covers low formaldehyde structural plywood, termite treated structural plywood and standard plywood. P TELECOMMUTING IS BOOSTING OFFICE FURNITURE SALES WORKING from home in times of the coronavirus are contributing to the rise in sales of office supplies and furniture. supply manager at brand owner Inter IKEA Group, which is in charge of supply, in a report by Reuters. during the Olympics and Paralympics, in addition to a surge in tourists and new traffic regulations. In the U.S., some companies are offering employees a stipend to buy what they need to make the transition from office to home easier in during the current pandemic, reported Fox Business. E-commerce software company Shopify, which employs 5,000 people worldwide, is providing them with a $1,000 stipend to buy equipment such as office chairs, a new desk and lamps as they work from home until further notice. Music-streaming service Spotify, has allowed employees to spend $250 for a monitor and $250 for a chair or desk. IKEA: SALES OF OFFICE FURNITURE HOLDING UP Demand for office furniture is holding up as many people are working from home in the health crisis, said Henrik Elm, global "The sales pattern is changing. One area where we are selling pretty well compared to others is office furniture. People are working from home and they have identified needs in their homes for it," Elm said. Telecommuting trending in Japan ahead of the Olympics and coronavirus outbreak In another report by Nikkei Asian Review, the telecommuting trend may have arrived late in Japan, but is expected to gain momentum this year as the nation gets ready for the Tokyo Olympics. The coronavirus outbreak is also pushing employers to implement telecommuting. More employees will consider working from home in the months ahead as Greater Tokyo residents begin to dread the added crush of people on their peak-hour trains According to a Nikkei survey of some 700 companies across Japan, the share of those taking up telecommuting programmes exceeded 50 per cent even back in 2019. The demand for office furniture among the country's increasing number of work-from-home employees is growing because most home furniture is not designed for long hours of work. Domestic office furniture makers are in turn adapting products for telecommuters. Osaka company Kokuyo sells a line of desk chairs with spring-loaded seats that can tilt in all directions as the user shifts. They are targeted at both private and business users. Kokuyo's sales of office chairs for personal use in 2019 were 150 per cent higher than those in 2015. P
May / June 2020, Issue 3 | Panels & Furniture Asia NEWS | 9 CHINA SEES RISE IN SAWNWOOD IMPORTS BUT NOT TROPICAL SAWNWOOD IN 2019 ACCORDING to data from China’s Customs, China’s sawnwood imports in 2019 totalled 38.11 million cubic metres valued at US$8.591 billion, a year-on-year increase of 4 per cent in volume but a decline of 15 per cent in value. Of total sawnwood imports, sawn softwood imports rose 15 per cent to 28.62 million m 3 accounting for 57 per cent of the national total, down 11 per cent on 2018. Sawn hardwood imports fell 19 per cent to 9.5 million m 3 because China’s sawn hardwood imports from the top sources, Thailand and USA, fell 19 per cent and 44 per cent respectively. Of total sawn hardwood imports, tropical sawnwood imports were 6.05 million m 3 valued at US$2.126 billion, a y-o-y drop of 16 per cent in volume and 21 per cent in value and accounted for about 25 per cent of the national total, up 5 per cent on 2018 levels. DECLINE IN THE AVERAGE PRICES FOR SAWNWOOD The average price for imported sawnwood in 2019 was US$225 per m 3 , a y-o-y decline of 18 per cent. The average price for imported sawn softwood was US$172 per m 3 , down 14 per cent y-o-y. The average price for imported sawn hardwoods was US$386 per m 3 , a y-o-y decrease of 11 per cent. The average price for imported tropical sawnwood was US$352 per m 3 , down 5 per cent y-o-y. RISE IN RUSSIAN SAWN SOFTWOOD IMPORTS Russia was the main sawn softwood supplier to China in 2019 and China’s sawn softwood imports from Russia rose 9 per cent to 17.03 million m 3 , accounting for 60 per cent of the national total, down 3 per cent y-o-y. In the meantime, China’s sawn softwood imports from Belarus, Germany, Sweden and Ukraine surged 393 per cent, 349 per cent, 136 per cent and 101 per cent respectively, however, imports from the U.S. fell 34 per cent mainly due to the China-US trade conflict. Average prices for all sawn softwood suppliers fell at different rates. Average prices for imported sawn softwood from Sweden and Germany declined 65 per cent and 22 per cent respectively. SURGE IN SAWN HARDWOOD FROM CANADA In 2019, China’s sawn hardwood imports from the top sources declined and hardwood imports from Indonesia declined (44 per cent). However, China’s sawn hardwood imports from Canada surged 56 per cent to 170,000 m 3 while imports from the Philippines and Germany rose 18 per cent and 8 per cent respectively. P
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NEWSLETTER MAY/JUNE 2020 The global
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ADVERTISERS’ INDEX May / June 202
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Panels & Furniture Asia May/June 2020

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