Pine and eucalyptus lead the ranking of wood most sold outside the country
When we talk about exports of forest products, cellulose is the main product, with around 59%, followed by paper and then various wood products. According to data extracted from the ComexStat portal, of the MDIC (Ministry of Industry, Foreign Trade, and Services), eucalyptus is the main wood species exported in logs. When it comes to sawn wood, the ranking is led by pine.
Log wood
The sectoral study published by Abimci (Brazilian Association of Mechanically Processed Wood) indicates that the main destination for logs is China. ComexStat data show that in 2022, 2 million cubic meters of eucalyptus were exported, just as it was extracted from the forest, without any processing, which corresponds to 88% of the entire group. Pine logs appear in second place in this segment, with 5%. In third place are teak logs, with 3% of the total.
Lumber
When it comes to sawn lumber, the scenario changes a bit. Pine is the main species exported and its main destination is the United States. ComexStat data show that in 2022 more than 2.8 million cubic meters were exported from Brazil. Then other types of wood, with just over 200,000 m3, and tropical wood, with around 100,000 m3.
Other species such as teak, Ipe, Cedro, Cerejeira, Peroba, and other native species also appear in last year’s report, in smaller volume, representing about 2% of the total of exported sawn wood.
Planted forests
Brazil has 9.93 million hectares of planted forests, according to data from Ibá (Brazilian Tree Industry). Here, exotic trees such as pine, eucalyptus, and teak find a favorable climate for growth, with higher rates than their countries of origin. The sector still has another 6.05 million hectares intact. They are native forest reserves that function as true biodiversity corridors.