Against the backdrop of responding to decarbonization and rising demand for timber, major trading companies are actively moving to increase investment in forests.
Mitsui plans to acquire additional shares in an Australian company that manages forests and sells timber with the funds raised from investors, raising its ownership ratio to 49% and becoming the largest shareholder.
This company manages about 1.1 million hectares of forest, which is equivalent to about 60% of the area of Shikoku in Japan. I want to expand the possibilities of doing business. "
In addition to this, Sumitomo Corporation plans to double the area of forests managed in New Zealand to about 100,000 hectares by the end of next fiscal year, and Marubeni will also supply timber in Indonesia. We are strengthening our business from this year, such as planting more productive varieties.
Regarding forests, as a response to decarbonization, emission transactions that sell the amount absorbed by forests to companies that emit carbon dioxide are expanding worldwide, and the economy is normal from the Corona disaster. Against the backdrop of rising timber prices due to the introduction of forests, there is a growing movement among companies to review the value of forests as assets, and trading companies are actively investing in this field.