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The new trend of international trade! According to data released by the Bank of Japan on September 13, wholesale prices in Japan rose 9% in August from a year earlier as commodity costs continued to rise and the rapid depreciation of the yen pushed up import costs. This marked the 18th consecutive month of gains, the central bank said, raising the corporate commodity price index to a new high of 115.1 from a base of 100 in 2020.

The most affected commodity electricity, city gas and water prices surged 33.4%, followed by steel prices rose 26.1%, and the third place was wood and its products, prices rose 20.2%. The Bank of Japan said that among the 515 commodities surveyed, more than 80% of the commodities have experienced significant price increases (431 types of survey data), and many international trading companies have to pass on more of the rising costs to consumers.

Japan's trade deficit hit a record 2.82 trillion yen ($19.7 billion) in August after rising energy prices and a weak yen pushed the value of imports to an all-time high, outpacing increases in exports, Japan's finance ministry said today. Dollar).

In June of this year, a survey by a credit research firm showed that more than 50% of Japanese companies had difficulty obtaining raw materials and other goods due to the Russia-Ukraine dispute and Japan's "trade restrictions" on Russia. The Teikoku Databank survey found that 50.8% were affected in terms of access to raw materials, products and services, and 66.7% were affected by soaring procurement costs. The survey highlighted the impact on the internationally traded timber industry, with 88.3% of timber construction companies and 83.6% of wholesalers using timber and bamboo saying it was difficult to obtain sufficient stocks. The survey also showed that 91.3% of internationally traded timber construction companies and 91.2% of fuel retailers such as petrol stations were hit by soaring procurement costs.

According to the latest data released by the Bank of Japan, plywood has become the most scarce wood species in Japan. Judging from the import price index, logs had the highest increase rate in March, reaching 13.2%, and the shortage was more due to the concerns of the international trade market after forecasts such as Russian birch. But it still maintained a high index of 197.9 in July.

In terms of price, the average price of all lumber has risen sharply year-on-year. Chinese fir logs remained high but did not climb again. The shortage of pine logs was the most obvious, with prices reaching a record high in May-June year-on-year. Wood floor data is not released.