MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay attracts expanding Chilean forestry companies

Chile's relatively small concentration of fertile land has forced its forestry companies to look closely at other Latin American countries for expansion. Forestry companies have started to set their sights on a host of other countries, including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Venezuela

Santiago Barros, an engineer at the Forestry Institute, explained that while there are some areas of interest for the forestry industry in Chile, "there is a relatively minor availability of land, because of small and medium sized properties that owners do not want to sell. This makes it difficult for companies to acquire land." Barros added that "the land (in Chile) has become progressively more expensive." During the 1970s a hectare cost between US$30 and US$50, while today the same area costs between US$1,500 and US$2,000. A recent report by PriceWaterHouse about the world forestry industry indicated that Brazil was the most attractive country to invest in during 2006. The report also identified Uruguay as having high potential for planting and installing processing plants. Ricardo Arrañi, a consultant at PriceWaterHouse, said that in Chile, "there are no longer available terrains for companies to invest new forest in." As a result, Chilean companies are seriously considering Brazil and Uruguay. "The governments of those countries are giving important support for development of the forestry sector. Because of that Arauco and CMPC have begun investing in those countries, and there are also many others who are interesting in entering," added Arrañi.(Santiago Times)