Lumber use Up for Trusses in Japan
After almost a three-year hiatus due to the concern and spread of COVID-19 the past few years, the Japan Wood Truss Council (JWTC) held its 21st annual general meeting in-person on June 16th, 2022, at the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo with twenty-nine persons attending. The council is made up of 14 regular and 5 associate member companies that have direct or indirect ties with the truss business and market in Japan. Combined, member companies own and operate 16 truss manufacturing plants throughout the country, producing and supplying trusses manufactured primarily fabricated with SPF dimension lumber.
At the annual general meeting, it is noteworthy to report that even though the total number of trusses used in residential and non-residential projects for the calendar year 2021 increased only slightly by 2.9 percent, the total volume of lumber used in trusses increased significantly by 57.9 percent for the period compared to the previous year. Truss use in the detached housing market remained strong, but for apartment housing, it decreased significantly, and although the number of non-residential properties decreased slightly also, the number of large-scale projects in this category was the major factor that pushed up the total lumber use for the year.
It is great to see that our strategic partnership and joint promotion initiative with the JWTC to expand truss use beyond non-traditional markets and into the non-residential market is not only expanding business opportunities for truss manufacturers in this country but also Canadian lumber companies exporting dimension lumber to Japan.
