According to Japan Lumber Reports, Sojitz Building Materials Corporation in Tokyo has started selling laminated veneer lumber (LVL) made in Vietnam.
Woodsland Joint Stock Company, a wooden furniture manufacturer in Vietnam, and will get the Japanese Agricultural Standards (JAS) certification of LVL for finishing carpentry in November 2022. Sojitz Building Materials will try to supply 2,500-3,000m3 in a month. Styrax, which is a broad-leaved tree, is used as raw materials.
Woodsland owns 30,000 hectares forest with mainly acacia in Vietnam and has a certification of the forest management by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The company also plans to apply a certification for styrax in the future.
Woodsland produces studs for condos and houses, interior fittings of heartwood and parts for prefabrication. The company has good quality on studs and has confidence in interior fitting.
The company was established in 2002. It produces not only LVL but also produces plywood and particleboards. The sales of 2020 was US$1bn or 15.6bn yen. Compositions of the sales are 54% for furniture and 38% for boards. The products were sold to Europe for 50% and to the US for 25%.
There are a total of six lines of LVL by three plants and production is 10,000m3 in a month. Two product lines at the first plant will be for Japan.
TPP 11, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, became effective in Vietnam in January 2019 and 6% custom duty of LVL for finishing carpentry was abolished.
Sojitz Building Materials imports 90% of LVL for finishing carpentry from China and the company experienced a tight supply of Chinese LVL due to the lockdown at towns, shutdown at ports and stopped operations at plants by COVID-19 in China.
That is why the company starts importing LVL from not only China but also from Vietnam.
Source: ITTO
