Radiata pine from Chile increases U.S. wood supply

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U.S., the wood products industry is filling some of the gap with wood from Chile's giant radiata pine plantations where harvests increase each year.

FibreForm Wood Products, an international company with plants in Rocklin and Eureka, Ca., and Tumac Lumber, Redding, Ca., have been leaders in importing finished products and rough dry lumber from Chile.

FibreForm has been selling radiata pine wood mouldings and finger jointed products in North America for over 12 years, developing the market in partnership with CAP S.A., the fourth largest forest products company in Chile, and its subsidiary Andinos, one of Chile's largest producers and exporters of value added products such as moulding and millwork.

Andinos, which owns and operates South America's largest radiata pine factories for moulding and millwork, doors, medium density fiberboard and ready to assemble (RTA) furnifire, is constructing a new sawmill which will enable them to expand their export production. FibreForm, their

Story at a Glance

How radiata pine imports from Chile have increased in importance in the last decade companies which have pioneered bringing shipments of moulding and millwork as well as rough dry lumberto the U.S.

exclusive partner for these products in North Americ4 has played a supporting and significant role in the development of value added export products.

Marc A. Seidner, president of FibreForm, said his company joined Andinos eight years ago in developing the technology and quality control standards necessary to put radiata pine on a par with ponderosa pine. Now each month FibreForm imports 160 Euck and railer loads of moulding and millwork, 25,000 doors and numerous containers of RTA furniture produced by Andinos for distribution in North America.

Tumac Lumber Co has been importing radiata pine products, mainly shop grade lumber which they sell to renranufacturers, for six years. They are second only to FibreForm, explains Bob Burger, sales manager, adding, "Radiata pine is the perfect substitute for domestic species in millwork. It's a wonderful species, at least equal to or better than ponderosa pine, fast growrng and environmentally responsible."

Radiata pine is not a new resource on a world-wide basis, Burger points out, "only in the U.S., where we're the new kids on the block."

Each month his company imports about 40 containers of finger jointed moulding and finished millwork as well as raw naterials for domestic producers. They are exclusive millwork and moulding sales agents for Aserraderos Copihue of Santiago, the country' s largest city.

Radiata pine was introduced to Chile in the late 1800s from California where it is native although not grown in great quantity. A tax exemption for plantations brought a flurry of active planting in the 1930s. In 1991 radiata pine plantations occupied 1.3 million hectares with more than 75,000 hectares planted that year. A hectare is equal to about 2.471acres.

Encouraged by subsidies which will expire in 1994, Chileans planted four hectares for every hectare harvested in the spring of 1992. Planting is expected to slack off after 19!X, but it is estimated that about 1.6 million hectares will have been planted to radiata pine by that time.

All radiata pine plantations in Chile are privately owned. About half are owned by major corporations with the rest in the hands of private individuals and non-industry businesses. Trees are young with 82Vo less than 16 years old and only 5.6Vo older than 21 years. Radiata pine is a fast growing species, ready for harvesting in 25 o 30 year cycles.

Radiata pine plantations are intensively managed as forest crops. Genetically advanced seeds are used to produce quality plants in high tech nurseries. After they are planted, they are hand thinned and pruned on a rigid schedule to produce high quality, clear, lorot free logs. With propef pruning, the fint 14 to 16 fe€t of the trunk grows lnot free with the rest of the tree producing tight lnot lumber. Trees are logged when they reach the optimum range of the growth cycle. At this time they usually measure 50 to 55 centimeters (about 20 inches) or more in diameter at breast beight.

Lumber production in Chile began to expand rapidly in the late '70s and jumped to 3.3 million cubic meters by 1990-91 with an emphasis on value added products. More than 507o of tlis was radiata pine. In 1991 the U.S. was their No. 3 customer for madera elaboradora (planed or finished lumber). Almost all radiata pine moulding (917o) exported that year came to the U.S with FibreFomt a primary importer, Seidner noted.

New Zealand, which planted trees in the middle of the 19th century as a windbreak between fields, is another source of radiata pine. Both FibreFonn and Tumac import radiata pine from the vast plantations in that country.

When New Zealand realized indigenous forests could not keep up with the wood demand, a Royal Commission recommended planting a fast growing exotic species to supply needed wood fiber. Their 1.1 million hectares of managed radiata pine plantations are the outgrowth of that recommendation.

In a joint venture with Forestry Corporation of New Zealand, FibreForm recently launched the world's largest millwork and moulding plant for radiata pine at Waipa, Rotorua, N.Z. The operation will include nro plants at Waipa and one at Mount Maunganui. FibreForm will market the production throughout North America and provide technical and manufactudng expertise. Called FibreForm Red Stag, the joint venture will market under that na[re, exporting 400 truck loads of moulding and millwork to the North American market each month.

Chile harvested 11 million cubic meters of radiata pine in 1991. By 2000 this will increase to between 22 and24 million cubic meters and 33 to 36 cubic meters by 2020. New Tnalmd" which now can harvest about 13 million cubic meters annually, expects a harvest of 16 to 17 million cubic meters by the end of the decade and 33 million cubic meters by 2020.

Because of commercial demand in other parts of the world, little raw material (logs and wood chips) comes to the U.S. from either Chile or New Zealand although secondary forest products such as furniture and furniturc parts, moulding, millwork, doors, door jambs and clear blocks are imported in high numbers. Japan, Korea, Europe and North Africa all import large amoun8 of radiata pine.

A significant volume of radiata