THE FOREST FURTHERANCE: AN ALTERNATIVE OF RAW MATERIAL IN BRASILIAN PULP INDUSTRY

Abstract

This work studied the programs of forest furtherance developed by companies in the pulpsegment. The objective is to identify the participation of forest furtherance in wood supplyand dimensions defined in contracts of these programs. The study used the theoreticalframework of new institutional economics, with emphasis in theory of long term incompletecontracts and transaction costs. Qualitative approach in the exploratory and descriptive studyof multiple cases was used. After a documental study on the regulatory and institutionalenvironment of forest sector, there was collected primary data through semi-structuredquestionnaire, sent electronically to managers and technicians of eleven pulp productioncompanies intentionally chosen. The results show that forest furtherance occupies the secondposition in the supply matrix of timber for pulp processing industry, whose participation tendsto increase with the trend of replacing the vertical integration by vertical coordination throughlong-term contracts. The results also show that the participation of programs to forestfurtherance and market in the timber supply for processing is growing. The furtherance aimsto facilitate efficient access and availability of land suitable for forestry cultivation, reducingthe costs associated with detention of land and increasing the timber supply for processing.The companies structure different modalities of furtherance programs, to attend to differentclasses of encouraged producers, mainly pursuant to the size of their farms. Except theextension furtherance, the other programs of forest furtherance use option to purchase optionof output.