Brazil’s pulp exports surged 26% during Jan-Feb ‘16

SAO PAULO (Scrap Monster): According to the latest statistics released by the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), the pulp exports by Brazil surged significantly higher during the initial two-month period of the current year.

The country’s pulp exports during Jan-Feb ’16 totaled 2.2 million tonnes, significantly higher by 25.6% when compared with the exports during the corresponding two-month period in 2015. Brazil had exported only 1.75 million tonnes of pulp during January to February last year. The total pulp production by the country has increased by 9.4% year-on-year to total around 3 million tonnes during the first two months of 2016.

Meantime, wood-based panel exports by Brazil were up by 70% during this period. The exports totaled 124,000 cubic metres, as compared with the exports of 73,000 cubic metres recorded during the initial two-month period in 2015. The domestic sales of wood-based panels dropped nearly 8% during Jan-Feb ’16 when compared with the previous year. The sales totaled 961,000 cubic metres during Jan-Feb ’16.

Paper exports remained mostly unchanged at 316,000 tonnes during Jan-Feb ’16. The volume of paper production reported marginal increase of 1.4% year-on-year during January to February in 2016. The production totaled nearly 1.7 million tonnes during this period. At the same time, domestic sales of paper surged higher by 3.6% during the two-month period to 866,000 tonnes.

The combined value of exports of wood-based panels, pulp and paper during the first two months of the current year amounted to $1.4 billion, significantly higher by nearly 20% when matched with the corresponding period last year. The value of exports had totaled $1.17 billion during Jan-Feb ’15.