KUCHING: Malaysia’s shipment of wooden furniture parts (HS 940391) to Japan has risen steeply to worth 245,676,000 yen (RM8.12 million) in March 2023 from 1,640,000 yen (RM54,185) in the previous month.
Malaysia is the third largest supplier to Japan after China and Indonesia.
Month-to-month, Japan unexpectedly increased the imports of wooden furniture parts by more than 40 per cent in March to 2,188,736,000 yen (RM72.3 million) from 1,545,871,000 yen (RM51.1 million) recorded in February.
“Shipments of wooden furniture parts from China in March were almost double that in February as factories resumed full time operation. There was also a sharp rise in month on month shipments from Vietnam.
“Indonesia and Malaysia were the other two shippers of note in March,” according to International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) Tropical Timber Market Report (May 16-31,2023) which quoted import data from Japan Finance Ministry .
China’s exports of wooden furniture parts to Japan was valued at 1,048,232,000 (RM34.6 million) while from Indonesia was worth 371,051,000 yen (RM12.3 million).
“After the decline in the value of February imports, the value for March restored the value of monthly imports back only to the average for the past 12 months.
“This was unexpected as the impact of higher FOB (free on board) prices and the weak yen was a factor in the rising import value for office, kitchen and bedroom furniture.
“The March value of Japan’s imports of wooden furniture parts was little change from that in March 2022. But compared to February, there was an over 40 per cent rise in the value of imports,” added the report.
On wooden office furniture (HS 940,330) the report said the value of Japan’s imports in March 2023 amounted to 268,691,000 yen (RM8.9 million) with shipments from China almost doubled as compared to the previous month of February when factories in China were closed for the Lunar New Year holidays.
China accounted for about 87 per cent of Japan’s imports in March.
“Year on year, the value of wooden office furniture imports in March increased compared to a month earlier. In March, the second and third ranked suppliers in terms of value of imports were Poland and the USA with each accounting for around just 2 per cent of the total value of March imports.”
Malaysia is a small supplier, exporting merely 1,986,000 yen (RM65,638) worth of wooden office furniture to Japan in March.
On kitchen furniture (HS 940340), Japan paid 1,781,705,000 yen (RM58.96 million) for the imports in March 2023, which was higher than the previous month and a year ago.
“The Philippines and Vietnam maintained their positions as the top two suppliers of wooden kitchen furniture to Japan in March. Shipments from manufacturers in the Philippines accounted for 43 per cent of March arrivals while shipments from shippers in Vietnam accounted for 38 per cent of March arrivals, almost double that of February shipments.
“Exporters in China and Thailand accounted for around 5 per cent each of March shipments, bringing the total for the top four shippers to 87 per cent of March arrivals,” said the report.
Malaysia is a small supplier, with its shipment to Japan in March valued at 14,851,000 yen (RM419,420).
“Year on year, the value of Japan’s March imports of wooden kitchen furniture rose from a month earlier and the same trend was seen in month on month imports.
“Rising input costs and higher prices in supplying countries and the weak yen had impact on the total value of imports,” according to ITTO.
On wooden bedroom furniture (HS 940350), Japan’s import value in March 2023 more than made up for the sharp decline reported in the previous month as it rose by 55 per cent lifting the monthly value well above the average for the previous 12 months.
Much of the increase in the value of shipments is because of higher FOB prices, reflecting increased production costs and the impact of the weak yen.
In February, there was a massive downward correction in the value of shipments of wooden bedroom furniture as in each of the main supply countries — China and Vietnam — there were extended holidays in the month.
In March, as the No 3 top supplier, Malaysia shipped bedroom furniture worth 218,457,000 yen (RM7.23 million) to Japan.
“Over the past five years, there has been a very noticeable and steady rise in the value of Japan’s imports of wooden bedroom furniture in contrast to the trends of import value for wooden office and kitchen furniture.
“The steady increase in the value of bedroom furniture cannot be explained, only by the impact of rising FOB prices in the supply countries or with impact of exchange rates.
“The upswing in the value of imports of bedroom furniture began in 2021 despite the COVID restrictions and depressed
consumer spending. One possible explanation could be that those have to work from home had to rearrange bedrooms to make space for a home office.
“Throughout 2022, the consumer sentiment and the willingness to buy durable good indices in Japan were in negative territory and this depressed purchases of furniture,” said the ITTO report.
In May, the Japanese furniture retailer Nitori Holdings reported its 2022 annual returns, which showed the first decline in profits in 24 years.
The main reason cited by the company for the poor profits was the higher cost of imported products due to the weak yen and higher ocean transportation costs.
