Trade Marine's partner Agrodock sold their woodchips mill called Agronichele, located in Rio Grande to the biggest producer in Brazil - Tanac.
It was a pleasure to build such a perfect layout and set up so beautiful sight.
Congratulations TANAC S/A for the aquisition and we wish them good luck!!

The two-day conference will be held over three days (Monday afternoon October 23, all day Tuesday October 24 and Wednesday morning October 25) to maximize delegates' meeting and networking opportunities

Already speakers for more 50% of the planned presentations and panels have confirmed their attendance. Planned topics and confirmed speakers are posted on the website

Our Conference organizer Mariela Ferrari is working with our preferred hotel and this will be posted to the website as soon as we have finalised arrangements

We plan to organize a post Conference Field trip. However, there is still some Covid travel uncertainty so we will delay announcing a Field Trip country and hosts until a later date

For a limited time we are offering a discounted Early Bird Conference fee of USD 1,400. To take advantage of this rate register on the website now

For assistance with your conference registration, sponsorship opportunities and for all other conference enquiries please contact the Conference Organiser - Mariela Ferrari

Attila Kovacs, director of Trade Marine Ltd and Agrodock Consultaria Empresarial Ltda will be giving a presentation about Ecovix bulk terminal on the Risi Forest Investment Conference in New York on 19-20 May, 2020. It could be interesting for those hedge funds, investors who are looking for a secure cash flow and good returns by investing in a deep water terminal in Rio Grande Brazil. For the program, please visit https://events.risiinfo.com/investment-conference/program

We are happy to announce that Trade Marine group entered into a JV with the Brazilian Triplex group and AGI and created Agrodock Consultoria Empresarial Ltda to give commercial consultation to Ecovix Shipyard in Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Our assignment is to convert the shipyard into an operational dry dock, industrial park and commercial terminal for bulk cargos. Ecovix is widening the bottleneck of port capacities in RGDS, and hopefully will allow new cargo volumes to access the international market by reducing the waiting time of the vessels. Also, the location of the dry dock within Ecovix terminal is perfect for ships that are trading East Coast South America. Please contact us for details if you would like to lease a warehouse, start export-import activity or book a dry dock slot in Ecovix. 

Known by many long-term attendees as “The Woodchip Conference,” this unique conference is the only one that focuses on the international trade in woodchips and biomass, covering the entire supply chain from plantation forest through ocean transport and to overseas end-users. The past several conferences (Vietnam in 2017, Savannah in 2015, Chile in 2014, Turkey in 2013 and Singapore in 2011) attracted professionals who are actively involved in this trade from more than 30 different countries. From plantation owners to exporters, shippers, end users, timberland investors and wood pellet or woodchip producers, the conference provides an opportunity to network and to learn about geographic and industry sector trends.

Why attend?

Who should attend?

Seattle, USA. Sawmills in Eastern Canada have been running at record high levels in 2016, with production reaching levels almost ten percent higher than in 2015 and almost 40 percent higher than five years ago. This has been very good news to the forest industry, with sawmills running at 97% operating rates in late 2016, according to the WWPA. However, there are also worrisome developments regarding the large volumes of residual chips that are being generated and where the chips can be sold.

The pulp sector has been the key consumer of residuals in the past, but with a shrinking pulp industry in both Ontario and Quebec, there are concerns that sawmills in the region might be forced to limit production levels because it may be difficult to sell off the large volumes of chips that are being produced.

Despite the oversupply of residues in Quebec, wood chip prices have not changed much over the past few years in Canadian dollar terms. Most contract prices for residues are set on an annual basis and after four years of practically unchanged prices, they fell almost five percent in the 1Q/17. It is likely that prices will decline in the future but this will not necessarily solve the problem with access to chips in the province. Either new production capacity needs to be added (e.g. wood pulp, pellets, composite panels or bio-based products), or sawmills will have to find other outlets for their chips outside the province. Alternatively, sawmills might have to reduce production levels in the future.

Although the latter alternative would be less desirable for both the domestic forest industry and for lumber consumers in the US to which much of the lumber is exported, it could still be a reality later this year. If the new US softwood lumber import tariff is implemented at such a high rate that it reduces the profitability of the lumber companies in the two provinces, it is likely to result in reduced production levels and thus declining supply of residual chips to find a home for.   

The North American Wood Fiber Review has tracked wood fiber markets in the US and Canada for over 30 years and it is the only publication that includes prices for sawlogs, pulpwood, wood chips, pellet feedstock and biomass in North America. The 36-page quarterly report includes wood market updates for 15 regions on the continent in addition to the latest export statistics for sawlogs, lumber, wood pellets and wood chips.

Contact Information

Wood Resources International LLC

Hakan Ekstrom

Seattle, USA

info@woodprices.com

New record high for globally traded wood chips in 2016 with the Pacific Rim accounting for 70% of total imports followed by Finland, Sweden and Turkey, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly Seattle, USA.

Global trade of wood chips has seen spectacular development the past 15 years with a steady increase of about four percent annually (volumes year-over-year were up 11 of the past 14 years), according to the Wood Resource Quarterly (WRQ).

In 2016, an estimated 35.6 million tons were shipped, predominantly to pulp mills in China and Japan, which can be compared to only 21 million tons 15 years ago. While trade of hardwood chips reached a record high in 2016, shipments of softwood chips have levelled out the past few years with 2016 volumes being slightly lower than the ten-year average. Japan and China are by far the two dominant consumers of globally traded wood chips. Their dominance is particularly accentuated for hardwood chips, where they imported 84 percent of the world’s total imports in 2016, up from 75 percent in 2007. China has surpassed Japan as the largest importer of chips in the world, and with expansion of pulp capacity on the horizon in China, it is likely that the country will be the number one destination for wood chips for many years to come (see further details in a special report in the latest issue of the WRQ). The major sources of hardwood chips for the two dominant importers include (in ranking order in the 4Q/16); Vietnam, Australia, Chile and South Africa. The biggest change on the supply side the past three years has been the sharp increases in hardwood chip shipments from Australia, South Africa, Brazil and Chile, while exports have fallen from Indonesia, Uruguay and Thailand. About 30% of global chip trade occurs outside of the Pacific Rim with Finland, Sweden and Turkey being the major destinations. The Finnish forest industry has long been reliant on both logs and wood chips from neighboring Russia and the Baltic States. In 2016, Finland imported almost 1.7 million tons of chips to its country’s pulp industry, of which a majority was softwood chips from Russia. Current import volumes are down about 25% from five years ago, partly because of increased availability of domestic chips and higher usage of pulplogs. The fifth country on the ranking list for chip importers in 2016 is Turkey, which has become a major chip destination in just the past five years. This is the only major country that is not importing wood fiber for the manufacturing of wood pulp. Instead, the imported wood chips are consumed by a large and expanding MDF industry.

Global lumber, sawlog and pulpwood market reporting is included in the 52-page quarterly publication Wood Resource Quarterly (WRQ).

The report, which was established in 1988 and has subscribers in over 30 countries, tracks sawlog, pulpwood, lumber and pellet prices, trade and market developments in most key regions around the world. To subscribe to the WRQ, please go to www.woodprices.com

Contact Information

Wood Resources International LLC

Hakan Ekstrom Seattle,

USA

info@woodprices.com

www.woodprices.com

Global trade of hardwood chips have trended upward for six years and totaled almost 24 million tons in 2015. By far, the two largest wood chip-importing markets are Japan and China, both countries with limited forest resources to supply the pulp industry with sufficient wood fiber.

The general price trend for hardwood chip traded overseas have been downward since late 2011 when the FOEX price index (PIX-HCG) reached a record high of almost $207/odmt. In May of this year this Index was $167.29, representing a 19.1% decline in 4 ½ years. Some of the biggest price declines the past 12 months have been for hardwood chips shipped from Australia to China, from South Africa to Japan, and from Uruguay to Portugal.

The FOEX softwood chip price index (PIX-SCG) has also fallen from a peak almost five years ago, but the price decline has been less dramatic than that of hardwood chips. During 2016, the SCG index has actually increased to reach $165.55/odmt in May, which was the highest level in seven months. The major price increase so far this year has been for softwood chips exported from the US to Turkey. A majority of global softwood chip trade is in Europe, as opposed to the hardwood chip trade, which is concentrated to Asia.

Source:

PIX wood chip prices indices

FOEX Indexes Ltd

Wood Resources International LLC, www.woodprices.com 

Increased demand for wood products and declining log inventories in China has resulted in higher importation of logs to China in the 1Q/16, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly. Australia has increased its shipments almost three-fold in three years and currently, ten percent of all softwood logs unloaded in Chinese ports are from Australia.    

Global Timber and Wood Products Market Update

 - a news brief from Wood Resources International LLC

Chinese log imports have trended upward in early 2016 with Australia increasing their market share the most, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly

Seattle, USA. Softwood log imports to China picked up in March to the highest level in 12 months. The total import volume for the first quarter of 2016 was just over seven million m3, which was about two percent higher than in the 1Q/15, as reported in the Wood Resource Quarterly (WRQ). With declining log inventories at the Chinese ports (about 40% lower this year than the same time last year), and an uptick in demand for wood in the domestic market, importation of logs has been trending upward since last fall when import volumes were the lowest in almost three years.

The real estate market in China has been strong so far in 2016, and the sector has been the fastest-growing sector in a relatively shaky economy. Newly built houses in the largest cities in March were up almost 30% as compared to the same month of 2015. Although China does not use as much wood per housing start as is the case in North America, Europe or in Japan, there are still large volumes of wood consumed, particularly lumber for concrete forming.

New Zealand and Russia continue to be the major suppliers of logs to China, together accounting for almost 70 percent of all imports. In the 4Q/15 and 1Q/16, New Zealand fell behind Russia after having been the major supply source for almost three years.

Perhaps the most interesting development the past few years has been Australia’s increased presence in the Chinese log market. In three years, Australia has increased its log shipments almost three-fold to China and the country now has a ten percent market share, equal to that of the US, according to the latest issue of the WRQ (www.woodprices.com) . Over the past three years, Australian logs have consistently been at the low-end of the cost curve with the 1Q/16 CIF average prices being slightly lower than for Russian logs and 12 percent below the average price for imported logs.

China has not only consumed more logs in early 2016, but lumber demand has also gone up. Importation of softwood lumber from the two largest supplying countries, Russia and Canada, were 32% and 18% respectively, higher the first quarter of 2016 as compared to the same quarter in 2015.

Global lumber, sawlog and pulpwood market reporting is included in the 52-page quarterly publication Wood Resource Quarterly (WRQ). The report, which was established in 1988 and has subscribers in over 30 countries, tracks sawlog, pulpwood, lumber and pellet prices, trade and market developments in most key regions around the world. To subscribe to the WRQ, please go to www.woodprices.com

Contact Information

Wood Resources International LLC

Hakan Ekstrom

Seattle, USA

info@woodprices.com

www.woodprices.com

BOSTON, April 5, 2016 (Press Release) – Asian woodchip trade volume hit record highs in 2015, for the sixth straight year, but issues with top exporters like Vietnam and Indonesia could potentially limit fiber availability over the next several years. The scramble to close a possible Asian supply gap has global implications. This and other critical trade issues are explored byInternational Pulpwood Trade Review 2016, released today by RISI, the leading information provider for the global forest products industry.

“More than half of Asian hardwood chip purchases are from Southeast Asia, but maintaining a sustainable flow of pulpwood fiber from the region is becoming more challenging,” said Bob Flynn, Director of International Timber at RISI and co-author of the report. “Government policy shifts in Vietnam and forest health problems in some countries, especially Indonesia, could change the mix for big Asian producers.

“Alternative sources of woodchip exports to the region have rebounded, and Brazilian pulp will be in a strong position. Market share shifts are inevitable, but who benefits most is an open question – and so is the impact on pricing,” continued Flynn.

Woodchip imports to Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, and India were 92% hardwood in 2015. This was enough fiber for their paper companies to produce 10.8 million tonnes of hardwood pulp. Tellingly, pulp imports by those countries almost equaled their appetite for chips, with a volume of 10.4 million tonnes of hardwood pulp imported in 2015.

“Supply constraints and strong demand have already reversed a decline in Australian woodchip exports, especially to China. We see China surpassing Japan as the top hardwood chip importer in 2016,” said Flynn. “We do expect woodchip import demand growth to slow markedly in the years ahead, due to competition from market pulp, but 2016 is again likely to see a new record volume of woodchip imports.”

International Pulpwood Trade Review 2016, offered as part of the International Pulpwood Trade Service, is an essential tool for the international trade of woodchips, pulplogs, and biomass fiber. This annual report examines the markets for globally traded pulpwood fiber and the pulpwood resources for domestic and export supply in more than 35 countries.

For more information on this study, please visit www.risi.com

About RISI (www.risi.com)

Wood chips from sources such as thinned lumber and laminated wood, which were previously considered unusable waste, are being increasingly used as a biomass fuel throughout the country. It is hoped that increasing the demand for wood biomass will also tie into the revitalization of the core forestry industry.

Ibaraki: Power generation (By Hideaki Takamatsu / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer)

In November last year, Hitachi Zosen Corp. began commercial operation in Hitachiota of a wood biomass power plant, which uses otherwise unusable lumber resulting from tree thinning as a fuel.

The plant, which was capitalized at about ¥3 billion, can generate enough power every year to supply about 12,000 ordinary households. The company sells all of the power except for that consumed in-house, and plans to operate the facility for 20 years.

It established a council to realize a stable supply of wood biomass fuel in the city’s Miyanosato area, together with entities including local forestry businesses and associations.

It is set up to utilize unused lumber sourced from trees such as Japanese cedar and Japanese cypress in the prefecture, as well as from Tochigi and Fukushima prefectures.

Hitachi Zosen also established the Miyanosato Biomass Limited Liability Partnership with materials producers and others. The factory neighboring the power plant supplies about 63,000 tons of wood chips per year.

Support for the establishment of wood biomass facilities is one of the fundamental measures included in an ordinance to increase the use of wood produced in the prefecture. The prefectural government enacted the ordinance in 2014.

The local government’s forest management division welcomed the biomass-based power generation. “The power plants will become a new consumer of unused thinned lumber,” a local government official said.

Commenting on the development, Tamon Ishikawa, 72, board chairman of the prefectural forestry association, said, “This will help boost the conservation of forests and promotion of the forestry industry.”

Okayama: Employment increase (By Seiji Tabata / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer)

In April last year, a biomass power plant capable of generating 10,000 kilowatts of output was completed in Maniwa. It can annually generate enough electricity for 22,000 ordinary households, which can fulfill the needs of the entire city, which has about 18,000 households.

Proceeds during its first year, which include income from the sale of electricity, are expected to meet the ¥2.1 billion target.

The main operator is Meiken Lamwood Corp., a major laminated wood company in the city. The company entered the biomass power generation business in 1984 and currently has a 1,950-kilowatt power plant on its premises.

In addition to saving ¥130 million in electricity costs per year, the plant brings in ¥60 million in income from the sale of electricity. Meiken Lamwood has been able to leverage the know-how it has accumulated to build and operate the new power plant, which obtains a stable supply of fuel in the form of lumber from local chip factories.

The operation of the new power plant, including management and fuel transportation, has provided employment for about 50 people. “Increasing the number of people working in mountains will help prevent their desolation,” said Tadashi Sakamoto, a 41-year-old senior technician. The next step of increasing lumber demand is within sight.

Gifu: Firewood boilers (By Shun Hatanaka / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer)

Last year, Hida Goboku, a trading company based in Takayama, began using firewood as fuel for boilers to dry lumber for construction use. The firewood is made of remnants sawed off during the harvesting and production of lumber and leftovers from construction. This is a case of “killing three birds with one stone,” as it not only increases the effective use of resources, but also reduces fuel costs and carbon dioxide emissions.

For lumber to be used as a building material, it must be dried enough to increase its strength and prevent warping. Traditionally, it would be left to dry naturally, and then a kerosene boiler would be used to remove the remaining moisture and improve the color and gloss of the lumber.

However, increasing kerosene costs led to a trial introduction of firewood boilers in September 2014 in cooperation with a Gifu-based nonprofit organization. This has reduced fuel costs and CO2 emissions to one-third of those associated with kerosene use.

Hironari Inoue, 26, of Hida Goboku’s planning and research section, said, “The reuse of wood remnants that we used to throw away significantly reduces costs.”

The firm’s efforts have attracted the prefectural government’s attention. “If firewood boilers become more popular, that will help strengthen the competitiveness of struggling small and medium-sized local lumber businesses,” an official of the lumber distribution division said.

Wood chips increasingly used as power source.  

Available from <http://www.the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002690059>. [9:30 pm, February 11, 2016]

Growing consumption of pulp and paper in India has increased the demand for wood fiber for the domestic pulp industry in the country. With the lack of domestic pulpwood plantations, pulp manufacturers have for the past few years increasingly been looking overseas to South Africa, Brazil, Australia and Southeast Asia for much needed hardwood chips. - report from Wood Resources International LLC Seattle, USA.

India has limited domestic forest resources to supply its forest industry, and with growing domestic demand for forest products, the country’s pulp mills and sawmills have found it necessary to increase importation of wood raw-material both in the form of wood chips and logs.

After couple of months development we are glad to present our new website with more information and function than before.  It is still running in Beta version so we apologize is something is not functioning properly yet. 

Trade Marine Limited will be sponsoring the Risi Wood Fibre Conference again which is held in Savannah/Georga/USA.

Overseas traded softwood chip prices declined by 11 % from August 2014 to April 2015, after having trended upward for more than a year. The FOEX softwood chip price index (PIX-SCG) fell to $165.86 per oven-dry metric ton (odmt) in April, which was the lowest level since late 2013 and 4.3% below the five-year average. The reduced price index was due in part to Japanese pulp mills switching to relatively lower cost chips from Australia.     

The hardwood chip price index (PIX-HCG) moved slightly higher in late 2014 and early 2015 to reach $182.47/odmt in April 2015. The current price is back up to the same level as a year ago, but still has a ways to go to reach the record high levels of over $200/odmt that occurred almost four years ago. In April 2015, the price premium for hardwood chips over softwood chips, the highest since early 2014.

Much of the hardwood chip trade in the world is concentrated to Asia where pulp mills in China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and India import large volumes of Eucalyptus and Acacia chips from plantations in Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa. The biggest changes in trade flows of hardwood chips during the first four months of 2015 have been an increase in shipments from Australia to China and from Vietnam to Japan, and a decline in volumes from Chile to Japan.

About the PIX wood chip prices indices

FOEX and Wood Resources International (WRI) have cooperatively launched two wood chip price indices, the Softwood Chip Global (SCG) and Hardwood Chip Global (HCG), both part of the PIX index family of FOEX. The Indices represent prices (CIF) for wood chips that are traded globally overseas for the manufacturing of wood pulp and wood-based panels. The Indices are reported monthly the third Tuesday of the month on the FOEX web site (www.foex.fi). If you are interested in participating as a data provider, subscribing to the index histories (data available from January 2010), or are considering using the Indices commercially, please contact tuomo@foex.fi.

About FOEX Indexes Ltd

FOEX Indexes Ltd is a private, independent company which specializes in providing audited, trade-mark registered price indices for pulp, paper, recovered paper, biomass and wood chips. Financial institutions use the FOEX Indices as benchmarks when setting prices for SWAP-deals and other financial instruments hedging against product price risks.

The PIX Indices are trademark registered by FOEX Indexes Ltd. Any commercial use of the indices is subject to permission from FOEX and the terms outlined in the License Agreement between the user/-s and FOEX. If you are considering commercial use of PIX-SCG or PIX-HCG, please do not hesitate to contact FOEX for further guidance.

About Wood Resources International LLC

Wood Resources International LLC, an internationally recognized forest industry-consulting firm established in 1987, publishes two quarterly timber and pulpwood price reports and has subscribers in over 30 countries. The Wood Resource Quarterly, established in 1988, is a 50-page quarterly market report which includes global prices for sawlogs, pulpwood, wood chips, lumber and pellets, as well as market commentary about developments in the global timber, biomass and forest industry. If you have any questions, please contact Hakan Ekstrom (hakan@woodprices.com). 

Copyright © 2015 Wood Resources International, All rights reserved.