Abstract
New Zealand has the potential to become a stable wood supplier to help Japan overcome its projected future difficulties in obtaining wood resources. The basis for this is New Zealand's increasing timber production from monocultural plantations consisting mainly of radiata pine. Presently, Japan uses radiata pine mainly for packaging, with some for plywood production. However, considering the fact that radiata pine is used for many different purposes in New Zealand, it might be possible for Japan to further expand its range of use. The possible areas to improve utilization of New Zealand wood in Japan involve wood used for construction, and civil engineering. However, because it might be difficult to use radiata pine as non-dried pure timber in these areas due to its low quality, such as its relative weakness, processing it into engineering wood is more likely. Considering the utilization of engineering wood imported from New Zealand to Japan, it is likely that New Zealand will face keen international competition in the near future and therefore its market share might not be sustainable. Hence it is critical that both countries cooperate on the issue of improving the technology used for processing radiata pine into engineering wood in order to improve its utilization in Japan.
