U.S. tariffs hit Brazil’s timber production in 2025

The production volume of roundwood for other purposes fell by 9.8% to 59.2 million cubic meters, according to data from the 2025 Forestry Production and Extraction Survey, released Thursday (24) by IBGE.

The United States is one of the main markets for roundwood outside of the pulp and paper sector, said Carlos Alfredo Barreto Guedes, an IBGE researcher. “With the tariff hikes [by the United States], [Brazilian] producers cut back production quantities due to falling exports,” he said during a press conference.

The production value for this segment remained virtually flat compared to 2024, posting a marginal increase of just 0.1% to R$9.14 billion, according to IBGE.

Overall timber exports dropped 12.3% in volume last year to 7.2 million tonnes, while shipment revenue fell by 8.8% to $3.8 billion, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s Agrostat.

These declines were driven by a reduction in trade with the United States. The volume of timber shipped to the country decreased by 19.7%. In 2025, the U.S. share of the sector’s total export revenue fell to 37%, down from 42% a year earlier.

According to trade data obtained by Datamar, wood sector exports to the United States were largely dominated by veneered plywood at a 41,75% market share. See the other remaining leading categories below:

Wood Exports to US | Market Share | Jan-Jul 2026 | WTMT

Source: DataLiner (click here to request a demo)

Reduced access to the U.S. market caused the roundwood segment for other uses to lose ground within the broader forestry sector, dropping from 25% in 2024 to 22% the following year, IBGE data show.

Conversely, in the roundwood segment dedicated to the pulp and paper industry, production rose 6.7% last year to 130.33 million cubic meters, according to the IBGE survey. The segment’s production value grew 18%, reaching R$17.6 billion.

“Brazilian production of roundwood for pulp and paper hit a record in 2025,” Guedes emphasized. He noted that the performance represents a recovery, as segment output had declined during the pandemic.

The strong performance tied to the pulp and paper industry also helped improve overall forestry results in 2025. The value of Brazil’s forestry production reached a record high last year, totaling R$47.9 billion—a 6.7% increase over the previous year.

Within forestry, the production value of wild extraction dropped 3.1% to R$6.9 billion, while overall planted forest production value rose 8.5%, to R$41 billion.

According to IBGE, the survey results confirm a trend observed in previous years: the growth of planted timber products at the expense of logging in native forests.

The area planted with forests grew 4.8% compared to the previous year, totaling 10.38 million hectares. Eucalyptus cultivation continued to stand out. The area planted with the species expanded 6.1% to 8.15 million hectares, accounting for 78.6% of total planted forest area.

Meanwhile, the area dedicated to pine saw a slight increase of 0.1% to 1.860 million hectares, representing 17.9% of the total. Other species accounted for 365,029 hectares under cultivation, marking a 0.2% annual increase and a 3.5% share of total planted forests.

Source: Valor International