The balance of trade for the Brazilian planted tree industry totaled $3.3 billion in the first half of 2016, recording a high of 12% year-over-year. The revenues of pulp, wood panels and paper exports totaled $3.8 billion, 3.8% higher year-over-year, when the total was $3.7 billion, as the Brazilian Tree Industry (Ibá) said in the press release received by Lesprom Network.
"Brazilian pulp exports are still on the rise, with noteworthy mention to China, who is currently the main destination of this input in the first half of the year," explains Elizabeth de Carvalhaes, CEO of Brazilian Tree Industry. "Yet in the paper and wood panels segments, companies have maintained the strategy to increase sales to other countries to partially offset the drop in domestic sales," she adds.
In the first six months of 2016, pulp exports totaled 6.4 million tons, 16.1% higher compared to the same period in 2015, when the total exported was 5.5 million tons.
For the wood panels segment, the volume exported in the first half of 2016 totaled 443,000 cubic metres, a 53.3% growth year-over-year, when exports totaled 289,000 cubic metres. Paper exports increased 7.2% in the first six months of 2016 totaling 1.1 million tons.
In the first six months of 2016, Brazilian pulp production reached 9 million tons, a high of 9.1% year-over-year, when 8.3 million tons were produced. Paper production recorded a high of 0.5% in the period, totaling 5.2 million tons.
In the first half of 2016, domestic paper sales achieved 2.6 million tons, remaining stable year-over-year. In the wood panels segment, domestic sales achieved 3.2 million cubic metres, 4.2% lower year-over-year.
