ECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF WOOD HARVESTING, HAULING, AND PROCESSING COSTS OF NATIVE FOREST TIMBER: THE CASE OF JARU COUNTY IN RONDONIA - BRAZIL

Abstract

The aim of this research was to study harvesting, transportation and wood processing costs of native forest timber used by the sawmills and veneermills in Jaru county – Rondônia State. The data were collected through questionnaries filled by sawmills and veneermills owners of Jaru county. The results showed that harvesting and transportation costs are higher for saw mills as compared to those of veneermills. While harvesting costs and transportation costs are, respectively, US$21,88/m3 and US$16,41/m3 for the sawmills, the same costs reached only US$15.69/m3 and US$10.05/m3, respectively, for the veneermills. The average processing costs of veneermills are also lower than those of sawmills which are, respectively, US$71.98 and US$48.56/m3. For most of the tree species used by both sawmills and veneermills the log prices paid to the log sellers in the mill yard is lower than the lumpsum prices of stumpage, harvesting, hauling and transporting costs of the mills. Therefore, it is economically prefereable for sawmills and veneermills to buy logs from the “toreiros”(log sellers) put in the mills storage yard rather than to buy stumpage.