BRAZIL - In September 2018 the consumption of wood boards in Brazil reached 573 thousand m3, an increase of 6.5% compared to September 2017 (538 thousand m3).

Consolidated sales volume in the Brazilian domestic market of wood panels in 9M-2018 reached 4.98 million m3, an improvement of 5% compared to the same period in 2017 (4.75 million m3).

In the period from January to September, Brazilian wood panels manufacturers presented an improvement of 2.3% in the volume exported, reaching 959 thousand m3 (9M-2017: 937 thousand m3).

In values, in the first nine months exports of wood panels grew 6.6%, reaching USD 226 million (9M-2017: USD 212 million).

Latin America was the main regional export market for Brazilian wooden boards in the 9M-2018 period with USD 126 million (9M-2017: USD 111 million), which represented an improvement of 6.6%.

The North American market followed with USD 50 million, although with a 2% drop compared to the same period of 2017.