The state has the most thorough productive chain of the sector, and with export, it consumes “from tip to toe of the tree”
In recent years, the consumption of forest by products has been increasing. And those who invest in the plantation of forests is profiting from it. Planted forests in the state of Paraná and in the southern region of Brazil, as a whole, are multi-products, with destination in different market branches and niches, ranging from pulp, paper, generation of energy, boards, reconstituted boards, furniture, frames, civil construction, packaging, hygiene, medications, nanotechnology, food, clothing, and many others.
And the tree producers in Paraná are in an even more comfortable situation, according to the chairman of the Paranaense Association of Forest-Base Companies (Associação Paranaense de Empresas de Base Florestal – Apre), Álvaro Scheffer Junior. “Paraná has the most complete productive chain in Brazil. The industries in the state, focusing mostly on export, consume from tip to toe of the tree. And thus, the producer can easily provide a destination for his products”, he declares.
According to Scheffer, the cultivated tree sector is going through an exceptional, “outside the curve” moment. In his point of view, the exchange rate moment is favorable for exports. Countries are seeking wood-derived products in Brazil and the Brazilian industries are investing, seeking new areas to increase the planting of forests, precisely to supply the demand of the industrial production. But he recognizes that it is a cyclical market. “2018 was one of the best years for timber production. On the other hand, 2019 was a bad year. In 2020, with the global pandemics, there was an enormous increase in the search for timber” he said.
According to him, that can be explained by the constructive systems in the United States and Europe, which use the Wood Frame style in their houses and some types of buildings. “With the pandemic, those markets went into lockdown. In those regions, it is common to perform maintenance on the houses whenever possible. Therefore, the American and European civil construction turned to Brazil for its raw material, and the price skyrocketed all the way to the base of the forest”, he explains.
With an eye on that potential, Paraná Wood Florestal, a company in the Paraná Wood Group (GPW), is preparing to enter the civil construction market. In every area of planted forest in its lands in São Jerônimo da Serra, in the north of the state, the company is reserving approximately 90 of the total trees per hectare to be destined to furniture and civil construction industries. “This means selecting some trees and leaving them up for longer, approximately 14 years, since that market demands a wider trunk and greater density”, explains the manager at Paraná Wood Florestal, Douglas Mendes. GPW cares for each planted forest in a unique form, with the development of its own methods, steering slightly away from the traditional ones. One of such methods is the division of each forest in plots, which can range from 12 to 25 ha. Each plot is carefully observed, and only then the inputs that it actually needs are applied, thus reducing the costs.GPW believes in the potential of Paraná, one of the most competitive states in Brazil, and a successful ESG business case, evaluating the impacts and performance of businesses in three areas: environmental, social, and corporate governance. In the past two years, the forest area planted by Paraná Wood Florestal had a 38% increase, currently at 1,460 hectares of own forests, with planting, handling, and technology employed in a personalized manner in each and every plot. With fertilization, technology, and knowledge, the production of eucalyptus at Paraná Wood Florestal reaches 65 cubic meters per hectare per year. At the end of harvesting, every seven years, it produces a total of 454.4 cubic meters per hectare.