The Center for the Study of Economic and Social Reality reported the great growth experienced by the sector in the first two months of the year.
The Center for the Study of Economic and Social Reality (Ceres) reported in its March Ceres Leader Index study the great growth experienced by the forestry sector during the first two months of the year, where wood export requests skyrocketed by 37.3% year-on-yearaccording to data from the National Customs Directorate.
In turn, in the seasonally adjusted comparison of last February against January, export requests grew by 22.8% in dollars. In the bimonthly comparison against January and February of the year 2022, they grew by 23.6%.
These numbers could be strongly boosted by the start-up of the pulp mill UPM 2 of Paso de los Toros, which could even act as a support for the number of exports from Uruguay, which is expected to be affected this year by the consequences of the drought.
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Graphic: Ceres
UPM2 awaits authorization from the Environment to start its operations
the finnish company UPM still awaits authorization Ministry of Environment to put into operation its second pulp mill in the country, located near Paso de los Toros (Tacuarembó) and Pueblo Centenario (Durazno) and with a production capacity of 2 million tons year.
UPM had established the last days of March as the start date for the plant’s activities, which represented an investment of $2.7 billionto which are added works such as the terminal specialized in the Port of Montevideo.
However, Ambiente still needs to grant the authorization for it to operate, which in fact implies the green light to start the operation of the plant located on the Black river. The government itself refused to set a date for the arrival of that authorization and stressed that it is still within the established deadlines.
Pulp exports grew by 91% during January
The Pulp exports increased 91% year-on-year in January, compared to the same period last year, and totaled the $168 million. Biopolymer shipments thus registered a significant rise within the framework of a year that shows promise for a sector that could reach an annual increase of up to fifty% with respect to the placements of 2022, as a result of UPM2.
This notable increase in production could mean a break in the trade balance for Uruguaytaking into account that it could counteract the havoc caused by the agricultural emergency due to the water deficit that is devastating the national countryside, and has had repercussions in a slowdown in exported volumes and the inflow of foreign currency.
Source: Ambito
