The value of Japan’s January 2020 wooden kitchen furniture imports, while being down 7% year-on-year, was up around 8% from December. Japanese house builders were affected by a slow-down of exports of kitchen supplies from Chinese suppliers and some builders faced delays in completing the interior house fittings, as ITTO reported.
The Philippines and Vietnam accounted for over 70% of Japan’s imports of wooden kitchen furniture in January with a further 14% of the value of imports being shipped from China leaving little market share for other shippers. January 2020 shipments from Vietnam, the biggest supplier in January were up 19% but the Philippines saw a 10% decline in shipments. Surprisingly there was a 36% surge in shipments from China in January, most likely due to fears that the corona virus could spread and disrupt production and shipments.
