Sawmills in Canada and the United States have for many years been the leading exporters of softwood lumber to Japan. The sawmills in Europe, however, have in recent years strengthened its position and the trend has become even more apparent in 2016 when import from Europe rose by 21% during January-July while North America declined by 6%. Europe delivered 1,636,000 m³ during the period and North America 1,221,000 m³ (of which 1,086,000 m³ from Canada), which means that European sawmills shipped 34% more than the North American sawmills. Hence the European market share increased sharply during the first 7 months of 2016 setting a new record of 47% while North America dropped to an all time low of about 37%.
In Europe, Finland and Sweden are the main suppliers followed by Austria and Romania on 3rd and 4th place.
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