Long term forest planning with fast-growing plantations as an strategic tool for national policy in Argentina

Abstract

It is possible to create efficient wood stock with fast-growing forest plantations. The following challenge is to catch up the full advantages of natural competitiveness through an efficient industry that could compete internationally. Any partial failure in the productive chain will bit in the whole competitiveness. Lack of demand of pulpwood could prompt the forester to delay thinning. Therefore, wood stock value will be lower, the international competitiveness will be worse, and the wealth to be distributed among actors will be poorer. Usually, countries with natural advantages, suffer lack of investment capacity. The industry that has a bigger capacity to consume woodchips is that that demand more investment per unit of production capacity. Planning in forestry with fast-growing species demands not only the forest wood stock, but also the prevision of the future industrial use of the wood that would be generated. Any unbalance will lower the added value, and subsequently, the payment to production factors. In this presentation, I will evaluate different alternatives for the Argentinean forest future, reckoning benefits and looses because of inefficiencies in different parts of the forest industry complex.