- Paper comes in a large range of types, but here the term is used to refer only to kinds of paper such as newsprint, printing paper and copier paper. Cardboard for corrugated cardboard boxes is not included.
- The raw materials for making paper are wood pulp (made from wood chips) and waste paper. These are mixed together in different proportions depending on the type of paper being made. Cardboard is made mainly from waste paper, but to make paper, which requires a high degree of whiteness, a high proportion of wood pulp is used. Pulp is imported mainly from North America and Scandinavia.
- Wood pulp can be divided into machine-made pulp and chemically treated pulp according to the method of production. Machine-made pulp is made by crushing wood, and the approximate yield is a relatively high 95 percent. It is, however, lacking in whiteness and strength and so is used largely for newsprint. In the case of chemically treated pulp, coloring in the wood is removed chemically : the yield is only around 50 percent, but its superior strength and whiteness makes it suitable for such uses as printing paper and wrapping paper.
- Total output of paper in Japan is the world's second largest, totaling approximately 31 million tons in 1997 (up 3.3 percent over the previous year). The world's leading producer of paper is the United States, with an output of some 86 million tons. Third is China, followed by Canada, Germany, Finland, Sweden, France, South Korea and Italy.
- Output of paper in Japan can be broken down as follows :
|
1988 |
1996 |
| Newsprint |
3,066,830 |
3,139,987 |
| Non-coated printing paper |
3,160,770 |
3,183,769 |
| Fine coated printing paper |
479,530 |
1,328,097 |
| Coated printing paper |
2,468,411 |
4,095,535 |
| Special printing paper |
331,702 |
405,090 |
| Information-machine paper |
1,160,288 |
1,779,238 |
Paper for sanitary products
|
1,280,918 |
1,647,920 |
| Wrapping paper |
1,128,512 |
1,085,745 |
| Miscellaneous paper |
1,265,773 |
1,101,401 |
| Total |
14,342,734 |
17,766,762 |
(Unit = tons)
Output of fine coated printing paper, coated printing paper, information-machine paper and paper for sanitary products was noticeably higher in 1996 than 1988. Higher output of information-machine paper was due to growth in demand for paper for flyers, advertisements and mail-order catalogs, and growth in paper for sanitary products was due to increased demand for diapers for children and the elderly. The growth in output of printing paper was accounted for by more copying in offices and homes and greater demand for equipment manuals and related magazines.
- Exports totaled 351,651tons in 1988 and 476,857tons in 1996, accounting for 2.45 percent of total output in 1988 and 2.68 percent in 1996. Destinations for exports were as follows :
- Newsprint(1996)
|
Volume (tons)
|
Value (JPY million)
|
| Taiwan |
14,996 |
1,184 |
| Hong Kong |
11,923 |
855 |
| China |
1,558 |
142 |
| India |
930 |
75 |
| Singapore |
722 |
50 |
| Malaysia |
395 |
35 |
| Bangladesh |
435 |
27 |
North Korea
|
58 |
8 |
| Sri Lanka |
104 |
8 |
| Total |
31,127 |
2,384 |
- Printing and information-machine paper(1996)
|
Volume (tons)
|
Value (JPY million)
|
| Hong Kong |
127,455 |
14,719 |
| China |
44,987 |
4,835 |
| Singapore |
32,536 |
3,929 |
| Taiwan |
23,881 |
3,120 |
| Malaysia |
25,311 |
2,936 |
| U.S.A. |
17,856 |
2,460 |
| Thailand |
20,486 |
2,434 |
| Australia |
15,608 |
2,088 |
| Philippines |
10,607 |
1,216 |
| Total |
318,727 |
37,737 |
- Imports in 1988 totaled 836,953 tons, and 1,317,931 tons in 1996, or 5.84 percent of total output in 1988 and 7.42 percent in 1996. It is clear from the figures that imports are on the rise, and import growth from Asian countries can be expected to continue due to the depreciation of their currencies.
Sources of imports were as follows :
- Newsprint(1996)
|
Volume (tons)
|
Value (JPY million)
|
| U.S.A. |
328,631 |
32,113 |
| Canada |
268,460 |
24,823 |
| Finland |
23,655 |
1,944 |
| Sweden |
16,564 |
1,313 |
| Norway |
450 |
40 |
South Korea
|
122 |
8 |
| Germany |
2 |
2 |
| U.K. |
1 |
1 |
| Total |
637,885 |
60,294 |
- Printing and information-machine paper(1996)
|
Volume (tons)
|
Value (JPY million)
|
| Finland |
265,474 |
29,356 |
| U.S.A. |
115,627 |
13,796 |
| Austria |
35,295 |
3,980 |
| France |
27,927 |
3,635 |
| Italy |
18,298 |
2,263 |
| Canada |
22,093 |
2,089 |
| Brazil |
19,183 |
2,036 |
| Sweden |
16,901 |
2,000 |
| Norway |
20,484 |
1,990 |
| Total |
541,282 |
61,145 |
- Although the paper market (including cardboard) could be described as mature, demand is increasing slightly year by year. Despite the fact that this is the age of the computer, when demand for paper should theoretically be falling, paper is in fact being used in larger quantities as people tend to print out data instead of saving on floppy disks. As faxes and personal computers become more widely used at home, use of paper will increase still further. Each individual Japanese uses the equivalent of 40,000 sheets of A4 a year, which is roughly the equivalent of one ton of wood, and this is contributing to the depletion of the world's forest resources and the destruction of the global environment.
- The leading Japanese paper manufacturers have started their own afforestation programs overseas (in Australia, Tasmania, Indonesia, Brazil, etc.) in order to secure sources of imports of raw materials. Although they are working on improving the technology for recycling paper in order to help conserve natural resources, at this stage it still costs slightly more to produce high quality recycled paper than new paper. Costs will have to be reduced further, however, as government agencies and similar organizations are specifying that recycled paper be used.
- Paper distribution channels
- Approximately 87 percent of purchases are made by agents from makers, 12 percent are from wholesalers, and 1 percent is imported. Approximately 78 percent of purchases by trading firms are from makers, imports account for some 17 percent, and the remaining 5 percent was purchased from wholesalers. In the case of wholesale dealers, approximately 81 percent of purchases are from other wholesalers, 18 percent from makers, and the remaining 1 percent is imported.
- Approximately 97 percent of sales are by agents to wholesalers, exports account for approximately 2 percent, and the remaining 1 percent is sold to retailers. Approximately 95 percent of sales by trading firms are to wholesalers, and exports accounted for 5 percent.
Sales by trading firms to retailers are nearly zero. In the case of wholesale dealers, approximately 97 percent of sales are to other dealers, sales to retailers account for approximately 2 percent, and the remaining 1 percent is exported.
- As pulp is imported for sale to makers, some trading firms are reluctant to import paper themselves. Some leading trading firms do not worry about the makers they sell pulp to, however, and import paper directly for sale through affiliated agents. Other trading firms market domestically manufactured paper within Japan and also export it.
- Demand for paper appears unlikely to expand dramatically in the years to come, and growth is likely to equal the rate of growth in GDP. The depreciation of the yen has made imports less attractive, but a rate of JPY110 to the dollar would see a substantial increase in imports. If one takes into account the impact of environmental issues, future increases in exports from Asia appear highly.
Source : "Yearbook of Paper and Pulp Statistics, 1996" (MITI Research and Statistics Dept., ed.).
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