BRASILIA: Brazil’s 2017 pulp exports increased 14% to US$6.4 billion. Paper exports were up marginally to US$1.9 billion and woodbased panel exports jumped 16% to US$289 million. Overall, 2017 was positive for the woodbased industry which saw a 13% increase in the trade balance.
In terms of volume, international trade in 2017 was good with the pulp industries seeing a 2.3% rise in export volumes to 13.2 million tonnes. The woodbased panel sector did exceptionally well seing a 21% increase in export volumes to 1.3 million cubic metres.
China remained the main buyer of Brazilian pulp in 2017 increasing its consumption by 19% over the previous year to US$2.6 billion. The other major market was Europe where demand was up 7.5% to US$2 billion. Latin America was the main market for wood panels and paper and the region accounted for just over 52% of total panel exports or US$151 million, an increase of 11% compared to 2016.
