International trade standards and competitiveness of the chemical wood pulp and conifer sawn wood sectors do Brazil and Chile front of major world exporters

Abstract

Given the importance that the forestry sector plays in the economy of several countries and considering the magnitude of world demand, it is understood that the participation of the forestry-based sector in the market is below its potential. The main objective of this research was to analyze the competitiveness of Brazil and Chile in the conifer sawn wood (CSW) and Chemical Wood Pulp (CWP) international market, through revealed symmetric comparative advantages (RSCA) and volume (in tons) exported compared to the world's largest exporters of these products. Brazil and Chile were chosen because they are the two main producers and exporters of these products in Latin America. Furthermore, linear regression analysis techniques were used to explain the factors that supported this competitiveness. The results of the RSCA index showed that for conifer sawn wood there are different patterns of competitiveness among the analyzed countries. For the CWP sector, Brazil is the world's leading exporter, and the RSCA indices showed that Brazil with high dynamism and Chile with lower competitiveness in the CWP sector. The results of the regression analysis to assess competitiveness via exported volume for both conifer sawn wood and CWP proved inconclusive for Chile. In relation to Brazil, the results for the exported volume of wood suggest a dependence on the US interest rate. We thus conclude that the results were probably affected by the volatility of the data analyzed from countries or sectors for which there are factors other than those considered in this study. Furthermore, Canadian pulp exports are influenced by the Brazilian price, not the other way around.