On 27 February at 3:34 am, an earthquake measuring 8.8 on the Richter scale struck the central-south area of Chile. Following the earthquake a tsunami hit the coastline in the area. Chile has a very significant forest industry and the objective of this article is to give some insight on how forestry was impacted, and how they are recovering after the devastating event.
It was the fifth strongest earthquake recorded in the world, the largest being a 9.5 earthquake recorded in Valvidia, Chile in 1960. The recent devastating earthquake in Haiti which caused the death of more than 220,000 people was of a 7.0 magnitude. 452 people died in the Chilean eathquake with 97 people still unaccounted for. The cost of reconstruction is estimated between US$ 15 and 30 billion. The photograph shows a collapsed 20 floor apartment block in Alto Rio, Concepcion (taken by Claudio Nunez).
The epicentre of the quake was in Cobquecura, 90 km northeast of Concepcion. Concepcion is one of the most important towns in Chile for the forest products industry. A 10 meter wave caused havoc and great destruction in Constitucion - another important forestry town in the area.
Chile, through Celulosa Arauco & Constitucion and CMPC, produces about 4.8 million tonnes of pulp per year (400,000 tonnes/month), which is equivalent to about 10% of world production. During 2010 there has been an increase of US$ 90.14 per tonne in NSBK long fibre pulp with part of this increase due to the shutdown of these plants in Chile in March due to the earthquake.
Celulosa Arauco & Constitucion have five celulose plants: Licancel (140,000 tonnes/year), Constitucion (355,000 tonnes/year), Nueva Aldea (1,027,000 tonnes/year), Arauco (790,000 tonnes/year) and Valdivia (550,000 tonnes/year). Most damage was caused to the plant in Constitucion and it is estimated that it will be shut for between two to six months. Production at the Valdivia plant was resumed on 21 March. It is expected that all the other plants will be shut down for at least the rest of March.
CMPC has 3 celulose plants: Laja (260,000 tonnes/year), Santa Fe (1,160,000 tonnes/year) and Pacifico (500,000 tonnes/year). It is expected that these plants will resume operation in April.
Many sawmills and remanufacturing plants are also back in production. It is estimated that 40% of forestry transport is already working and it is expected that the situation will normalize within the next two months so as to supply the plants with raw material as they come back into production.
Source: Ian Conradie, Holistic Business Solutions, Santiago, Chile. iancon@hbsolutions.cl. Follow this link for photos: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/02/earthquake_in_chile.html