Press Release

Press Release

Cypress Sunadaya and Chubu Electric Power establish a joint venture and launch a business to produce and sell residential wood structural materials in Hokkaido by April 2027 - Promoting domestic production of residential wood structural materials by utilizing Hokkaido's forest resources -

July 01, 2024
Obayashi Corporation
Cypress Sunadaya Co., Ltd.
Chubu Electric Power Co.,Inc.

Cypress Sunadaya Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Saijo, Ehime; President: Kazuyuki Sunada), which is a group company of Obayashi Corporation (Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President and CEO: Kenji Hasuwa), and Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc. (Headquarters: Higashi-ku, Nagoya; President and Director: Kingo Hayashi) establish a joint venture company ("the company") in Kushiro City, Hokkaido to produce and sell residential wood structural materials, and begin their efforts to build and operate one of the largest sawmills in Japan by April 2027.

Picture of Sawmill image

Sawmill image (Photo: Cypress Sunadaya Toyo Industrial Park mill)

1 Business Background

Currently, the domestic market for residential wood structural materials is dominated by foreign timber products in terms of price and strength, and many of the abundant forest resources in Japan are not being effectively utilized even though they have reached the cutting age.
In this business, the company will produce and sell residential wood structural materials made from Todo-fir and other logs of Hokkaido, which have quality comparable to that of imported timber. In addition, large machinery will be installed to ensure sufficient distribution volume and reduce costs, realizing mass production. Through these efforts, the company will be able to compete with imported timber in terms of quality, price, and distribution volume, and will also contribute to the utilization of domestic timber, which is being pursued by housing manufacturers.
The Obayashi Group has formulated the Obayashi Sustainability Vision 2050 and has been working to pursue sustainability of the planet, society, and people. One of the measures is Circular Timber Construction®, a recycling-oriented business model that optimizes the entire supply chain for wood and ligneous construction, and the Group intends to engage not only in the midstream lumber business but also in the upstream forestry support business (afforestation and forestry). When demand for lumber in the nonresidential wood construction market expands, the company will also consider manufacturing CLT and other nonresidential wooden structural materials to strengthen the nonresidential wood and ligneous building business, indicated as downstream.
The Chubu Electric Power Group has committed to participating in forestry projects as one of the regional infrastructure projects to realize its Management Vision 2.0. Through the participation, we will contribute to the watershed environment by improving the multifaceted functions of forests, including CO2 absorption and biodiversity, contribute to the local economy by improving profitability and creating jobs in the forestry timber industry, and provide diverse value to our customers, including the promotion of timber use and decarbonization value. We will continue to consider the participation in forestry business through discussions with people involved in the forestry industry in Hokkaido.

2 Business summary

Around October 2024, the joint venture company will be established to realize a large-scale production system. Construction will begin in May 2025 on a lumber and laminated wood manufacturing plant in Hokkaido equipped with European-made lumber machinery, wood artificial drying apparatus, and a laminated wood production line, with completion and operation planned for April 2027.

(1) Outline of the joint venture company

Company Name

Kushiro Wood Products Corporation (tentative name)

Headquarters

Kushiro City, Hokkaido

Representative

Kazuyuki Sunada (currently Representative Director, Cypress Sunadaya)

Capital

1,250 million yen (planned)

Investment Ratio

Cypress Sunadaya 80%, Chubu Electric Power 20%

Number of employees

80-90 (estimated at one shift operation in the third year of operation)

Date of establishment

October 2024 (Scheduled)

Business Activities

Manufacture and sale of domestic lumber and laminated timber

(2) Outline of sawmill

Sawmill location

Kushiro City, Hokkaido

Production facilities

Log peeling machine, log diameter sorting machine, chipper canter sawmill machine, wood artificial drying apparatus, laminated wood production line, pellet production machine, etc.

Raw materials

Hokkaido Todo-fir (mainly), other conifers from Hokkaido in general

Log consumption

Approximately 100,000 m3 in the first year of operation, 200,000 m3 in the second year, and 360,000 m3 in the third year are planned.

Products

Main Products: Structural laminated wood, dimension lumber (2×4 lumber)
By-products: Paper chips, white pellets, sawdust

Start of production

April 2027 (Scheduled)

3 Schedule

October 2024: Establishment of joint venture
May 2025: Sawmill construction scheduled to begin
April 2027: Sawmill scheduled to begin operation

Go to the Top of the Page