TOKYO (From news reports) -- Japan's paper exports climbed to a record volume for a second straight year in 2017, thanks to brisk Chinese demand for boxes for e-commerce.

Exports of paper and paperboard increased 15.8% on the year to 1.58 million tons in 2017, the Japan Paper Association said Monday. Cardboard components, including liners and corrugated medium, drove the overall uptick, with a 43% jump in shipments.

Nippon Paper Industries' paperboard exports including cardboard components soared a whopping 69% on the year in the April-September half, as Chinese internet titan Alibaba Group Holding's Nov. 11 "singles day" campaign and other events spurred demand.

Paperboard demand in Japan likely grew only 2% in 2017, according to the industry association. "Japanese paper companies have been using their surplus production capacity for exports," said an official from a major papermaker.

But the robust demand from China is not translating to stronger earnings at Japanese paper companies, which are struggling to boost income amid a shrinking paper market at home. The cost of wastepaper, or raw materials used to make cardboard components, has soared because of a tighter market caused by China's imports.

The price of board wastepaper exported from Japan reached a record 27.7 yen (25 cents) per kilogram last July, according to an industry group of wastepaper traders in greater Tokyo. Prices in Japan have also risen.

Oji Eco Materials, an Oji Holdings unit that procures materials and fuel for paper production, has raised its benchmark price of wastepaper purchases by 3 yen per kilogram. Nippon Paper subsidiary Kitakami Paper will end production of board components and other items in July.

What the Chinese authorities do going forward will be key, said Fumio Manoshiro, chairman of the Japan Paper Association.

From the fall of last year, China has restricted imports of board wastepaper as part of environmental policy. The market loosened as a result, and wastepaper prices dropped. But based on 2018 import quotas approved at the end of December, many Chinese businesses will likely resume imports after the Lunar New Year in February.

Meanwhile, the Japanese paper market keeps shrinking with the rise of digital media. The JPA projects that overall demand for paper and paperboard in Japan will decline for an eighth straight year in 2018.

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