Forestry companies around the globe choose Uruguay

The dynamism marked the last twenty years of the forest - wood industry in Uruguay, with an average productive growth rate of 7.8% per year in the last decade. The country, located between Argentina and Brazil, in the south of America, has a strategic location for the development of this activity and has multiplied by thirty the area planted in the last 25 years. Meanwhile, the area of soils declared a forest priority corresponds to 24% of the total agricultural area of the country.

Uruguay is located in the same latitude than the countries with the world's main forestry enterprises, such as Australia, New Zealand, Chile and South Africa. Its favorable natural conditions ensure very good levels of international competitiveness. Its temperate climate and evenly distributed rainfall throughout the year have benefited the wide availability of soils with high yields. Thus, the average growth of wood is six times greater than in the northern hemisphere, and in addition, almost all of its production has international certification.

Faced with the scarcity of forest lands of this type in other regions of the world, and thanks to its favorable business climate, great social stability and fiscal incentives for investors, Uruguay has managed to attract significant foreign investments that have invigorated this sector of the economy, doubling its value in just five years.

In fact, several foreign companies have chosen Uruguay to set up and develop their activities. For instance, in 2007 the Finnish UPM did so, while in 2009 it was Montes del Plata - with Chilean and Swedish-Finnish capital through the companies Arauco and Storaenso - the company that built its plant in Uruguay. The same happened with other companies such as Lumin or Harvard Management Company and with important forest sector investment funds such as Global Forest Partners, GMO, BTC and Stanfford, which operate from this country.

The stability of its legal framework, coupled with a national code of good forestry practices have been decisive for companies to trust in Uruguay, which currently houses more than 1,750 companies linked to the forest complex of various sizes.

This country of barely three and a half million inhabitants is the third largest exporter of short-fiber pulp in the world, and is also a leader in the intensive management of eucalyptus plantations, aiming at the production of high quality wood. More than 40% of its plantations have this destination.

There are currently opportunities for investment in value-added processes and the generation of new products. In this sense, there are interesting opportunities for sawn timber.

An opportunity for Uruguay may be associated with a greater development of wood construction. 

To know more in detail the characteristics of the forest - wood sector in Uruguay you can enter here or read the report "Investment opportunities in the forest sector".

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