The last 2 months or so I have been revisiting the Chilean forest sector and mentally comparing values with other two places: Australia (where I worked 6 years) and New Zealand (where I’ve been living for close to two decades). Previous related posts here and here.
We often get stuck considering specific values of dynamic systems instead of the overall trends; a bit like worrying about a specific frame instead of the whole movie.
New Zealand radiata pine has been remarkable stable: around 89% of the planted forest estate area for a long time and with a fairly low percentage of eucalypts (under 2%). In contrast, Australia and Chile have experienced large changes on the percentage of eucalypts (mostly Eucalyptus globulus and E. nitens) versus radiata pine during the last 20 years. In Chile this change has been accompanied by capital investment in processing facilities.
At the same time, the Chilean curves hide a fundamental change during the last 10 years.
