The Brazilian forestry market is one of the few segments that do not directly reflect the country’s economic situation. Even with the threat of recession and political scandals abounding, the forestry sector exported over $7.7 billion in 2017. This figure represents an 11% growth from the previous year. With excellent soil and climate conditions, Brazil arises as a key player in the global scenario of forestry production. This is largely thanks to two foreign species – pine and eucalyptus – which have adapted extremely well to the country’s conditions. Brazil’s territory covers 8,516,000 km² (or 2.104 billion acres). According to Ibá (the Brazilian Tree Industry), the country’s most representative forestry association, only 7.84 million hectares (19.373 million acres) are occupied by planted forests – a mere 0.92% of the country’s land. Pine and eucalyptus species represent the majority of planted trees – over 90%. Conifers (pine) represent 20% of planted areas, whereas eucalyptus forests account for 71%. The rapid growth of eucalyptus and pine species in Brazilian lands is the most important factor motivating these planted areas, as well as research and investments in these species. In 2016, Brazil led the global forestry productivity ranking, averaging 35.7 m3/hectare per year for planted eucalyptus forests; and 30.5 m3/hectare per year for planted pine forests, according to the most relevant companies in the sector. On average, the eucalyptus production cycle is 7 years long, and 15 years for pine.
In order to present present this promising market to investors worldwide, as well as showcase what Brazilian silviculture does best and attract new technologies from the world’s most important timber producing countries, the Expoforest – Brazilian Forestry Fair was created. The fourth edition of the world’s largest dynamic forestry fair in 2018 takes place from April 11th to 13th, in Santa Rita do Passa Quatro, a town within the greater Ribeirão Preto area in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The event will be held in 200-hectare cloned eucalyptus forest belonging to International Paper.“We believe Expoforest 2018 will once again prove to be a great opportunity to gather the world’s entire timber production chain and demonstrate once and for all the sheer strengths of the forestry sector in Brazil and in the world,” says Jorge R. Malinovski, president director of Malinovski, the company behind Expoforest. At the moment, still a few months away from the event itself, 226 companies are already confirmed exhibitors for the fair, and they are getting ready to present their new product launches, technologies and trends covering the entire timber production cycle. According to Malinovski, over 30,000 visitors – from Brazil and other countries with long-standing tradition in forestry – are expected during the three days of the event.Expoforest is a part of Forestry Demo Fairs (FDF), a specialized board responsible for ensuring quality and safety in the world’s larges dynamic forestry fair. In this group, Expoforest stands alongside Asturforesta (Spain), EKO-LAS (Poland), Elmia Wood (Sweden), Euroforest (France), FinnMETKO (Finland) and KWF-Tagung (Germany). According to the organizers of the exhibition, in its last edition, held in 2014, over 208 exhibitors were present, showcasing new machinery, equipment and technology employed in timber production from planted forests. In total, 25,107 specialized visitors from Brazil and 27 other countries were present at the fair, resulting in $48 million in business transactions.
