Value of Forestry Production in Brazil Reaches R$20.6 Billion in 2018

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The value of forestry production recorded by 4,897 Brazilian municipalities in 2018 totaled R$20.6 billion (US$5.2 billion), an increase of eight percent in comparison with the previous year.

From this total, the highest production figure was recorded in forestry (R$16.3 billion), which accounts for 79.3 percent of the total, with an expansion of 11.1 percent in relation to 2017, while vegetable extraction showed a production figure of R$4.3 billion, with a 2.7 percent retraction in the same comparison.

According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics – IBGE – the production figure is the same as the gross production figure, obtained by multiplying the freight-free price and taxes by the total produced.

The data are contained in the 2018 Production of Vegetable Extraction and Forestry (PEVS) survey, published by IBGE.

The survey shows that the number of municipalities accounting for the amount of forest production last year was increased in 60 cities compared to 2017, reported to Agência Brasil the research manager, agronomist Winícius Wagner.

He explained that the gross forest production figure was R$1.515 billion higher than in 2017, confirming the third consecutive year of nominal growth in the sector’s production value.

In 2016 there was an increase of 0.9 percent and of 2.8 percent in 2017. Wagner said that the largest share of the production value comes from the group of timber products, totaling 90.2 percent. “The production value of this group of loggers alone was 8.5 percent higher than in 2017,” he noted.

The IBGE analyst reported that the 2.7 percent drop in the value of plant extraction production in 2018 is the third consecutive retraction in the sector and was mainly driven by the performance of timber products, which account for 62 percent of the value of forest production from logging and, as a whole, had a 5.2 percent drop in production value in 2018.

“Because they account for a very large share of the list of timber products, this 5.2 percent drop in the value of production of these timber products directly influenced the total value of vegetable extraction in 2018,” he explained.

Great influence of charcoal production

Winícius Wagner also pointed out that charcoal from forestry had the greatest influence on the growth in the value of forest production. “This was the product with the greatest influence on this increase. This is due to the rebound of the steel industry in 2017 and 2018, which is the largest consumer market for these products, used for energy in these industries,” he said.

The value of charcoal production from forestry totaled R$4.1 billion in 2018, an increase of 50.5 percent in comparison with 2017. Charcoal saw an 18.9 percent increase in annual production.

The state of Minas Gerais accounted for 84.1 percent of domestic production of charcoal from forestry and showed the highest production value from forestry (R$4.6 billion), an increase of 45.7 percent.

The research manager reported that Minas Gerais began to lead also in terms of forest production value, which includes forestry and vegetal extraction, totaling R$4.7 billion, an increase of 44.8 percent in production value, representing 22.8 percent of the country’s total, outperforming Paraná, a leader until then. In 2018, Paraná slipped into second place, with R$3.6 billion.

Analysis by municipalities shows that in 2018 Telemaco Borba, in Paraná, showed the highest value of forest production (R$326.9 million), replacing Três Lagoas (Mato Grosso do Sul) at the head of the national ranking. João Pinheiro (Minas Gerais) ranks third.

Planted forests grow 1.3 percent

Of the total 9.9 million hectares planted in 2018 in 3,488 municipalities, there was an increase of 1.3 percent in the area of planted forests, which represents an increase of 131,800 hectares.

Approximately 70 percent of these areas were in the Southeast and South regions of Brazil, with eucalyptus accounting for 76.2 percent of planted forests, covering 7.5 million hectares, and pine trees accounting for two million hectares.

Together, the two products account for 96.3 percent of Brazilian coverage. Winícius Wagner pointed out that pine is predominant in southern Brazil, while eucalyptus is found throughout Brazil.

Last year, the group of forestry products increased its share in the value of primary forest production to 79.3 percent.

According to the research, over the past two decades there has been a sharp trend towards replacing timber products with forestry, under pressure from the producer market, sector policies, international agreements and the very suitability of the market for current legislation, which has pressured the replacement of extraction with forestry.

Pine and eucalyptus

According to the IBGE, the Southern Region has the largest area of planted forests in Brazil (3,485 hectares or 35.2 percent), with pine predominating, while in the Southeast, with 3,458 hectares, corresponding to 34.9 percent of the national total, eucalyptus is the leading planted area.

Minas Gerais continues to have the largest planted area (more than two million hectares), showing an increase of 3.3 percent in 2018; Paraná ranks second in terms of planted forests: 1.5 million hectares, of which 53.4 percent are for the development of pines. Mato Grosso do Sul ranks third with 1.133 million hectares.

Highlights

The main vegetable extraction products are roundwood (timber used for poles), with the highest production value in the group (R$2,785.4 million) and a 4.9 percent reduction in production, a total of 11.6 million cubic meters in the year under study. The IBGE analyst pointed out that, for the first time, Mato Grosso do Sul accounted for the largest volume of roundwood in the country, and this product carries the greatest weight in the value of forest production among the survey’s products.

Extractive charcoal was also noteworthy because it showed the largest retraction among the vegetable extraction products (-21.6 percent in production volume), with 338.3 thousand tons in the year. Wagner explained the drop as a result of the replacement of these products by forestry products.

On the other hand, non-timber extractive products registered a 1.8 percent increase in production value, totaling R$1.6 billion. The group of food products, the largest of the non-timber products, once again showed growth in production (4.1 percent), totaling R$1.3 billion in 2018.

Acaí production increases 4.1 percent

In the non-timber food products extraction group, acaí shows the highest production value and recorded a volume of 222 thousand tons produced, 0.9 percent higher than in 2017. This represented an increase of 2.5 percent in the production value (R$592 million).

Acaí contributes with 46.3 percent of the production value for food products. The researcher drew attention to the share of extractive acaí within its total national production, the equivalent of 12.8 percent.

Pará was the largest national producer of acaí, accounting for 147.7 thousand tons, 4.1 percent higher than in 2017. In the list of the ten municipalities showing the highest production volumes in 2018, eight are from Pará, led by Limoeiro do Ajuru, which accounted for 18.5 percent of the national total of extractive acaí, with a production of 41 thousand tons.

The second highest production of non-timber products at R$468.4 million, showing a 0.8 percent decrease over the previous year, was erva mate, a tea-like product found in the southern region of the country. Production totaled 393 thousand tons, an increase of 2.4 percent over 2017.

Brazil nut production accounted for the largest increase in the value of the main extractive non-timber products, at 35.4 percent, with a production value of R$130.9 million. Humaitá (AM) recorded the highest volume produced, at 4,000 tons.

Brazil nut production last year was 34,170 tons, an increase of 46.3 percent. The Brazil nut harvest resumed growth after two consecutive years of reduction.

The research shows that the annual variation in the production value of the main extractive non-timber products declined for pequí (fruit), with -13 percent; carnaúba powder (-3.9 percent); babassú (oil nut), with -3.8 percent, and mate (-0.8 percent). On the other hand, Brazil nuts (+35.4 percent); pine nuts (+7.6 percent) and acaí (+2.5 percent) saw their production value increased.

Source: Agência Brasil