Eucalyptus Log Prices in Brazil Have Gone Up 25% the Past Year, Almost
Reaching the Global Average Hardwood Fiber Price Index in the 1Q/2010,
Reports the WRQ
The supply and demand for Eucalyptus logs in Brazil has been in balance the past year, which has
resulted in stable log prices in the local currency, according to the Wood Resource Quarterly. As a
result of the strengthening Real, log costs have gone up in US dollar terms and were 25 percent
higher in the 1Q/10 than in early 2009.
Seattle, WA, June 29, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Eucalyptus pulplog prices in Brazil have been very stable in the
local currency and they have hardly changed at all since 2006, as reported in the Wood Resource
Quarterly. In US dollar terms, on the other hand, wood fiber costs have increased substantially because of
the strengthening of the Brazilian Real.
Five years ago, Brazil had some of the lowest wood fiber costs in the world in US dollar terms, but since
that time the Real has appreciated against the dollar with the result that costs for pulpwood traded in the
open market in Brazil now are close to the global average hardwood fiber price index (HFPI). Eucalyptus
fiber prices in the 1Q/10 were about 25% higher in US dollar terms than the same quarter last year, and
60 percent higher than five years ago.
Demand for Eucalyptus logs has increased in some regions of Brazil not only from pulp and panel
manufacturers, but also from some sawmills that are producing lumber from both pine and Eucalyptus for
the construction market. The increased demand for logs has not changed stumpage prices much in the
local currency, and it is not expected that they will increase much in the coming years because of the
additional supply of wood that will be available from recently established plantations. During the past
five years, the area of Eucalyptus plantations has expanded by over seven percent annually.
The pulp industry consumes about 45% of harvested Eucalyptus logs, while an estimated 48% is used for
fuelwood and for making charcoal for the steel