Cost Accounting and Efficiency of Forest enterprises in the Brazilian Amazon

In the Amazon, in excess of three cubic metres of roundwood are used for the production of every cubic metre of sawn timber. More efficient timber harvesting and processing could lead to a drastic reduction in the timber exploited from affected sites and at the same timber improve profit margins. Many concerns are not aware of this potential, however, as the collection and analysis of production data is practically unheard of in the Amazon timber industry. Against this background, the project captured production and cost data of 5 forest enterprises in the state of Pará, Brazil. This study resulted in urgently needed information about costs of forest management in the Amazon.  Most important result was that harvesting costs depend mainly on the professionalism of the enterprise management, while the applied technologies (Reduced Impact Logging – RIL or conventional) play only a minor role. The implementation of RIL, however, causes a strong increase of fix costs, which enhance the requirements to the enterprise management. There is no doubt that only very few Amazonian enterprises dispose on this managerial capabilities.