Investment

Investing experts are predicting that Brazil will be joined by Chile in leading the way for new, profitable investment opportunities in South America.

The abundant natural resources in Brazil – including timber and minerals – as well as the planned work to give it a global quality infrastructure, a strong currency and excellent showing during the global recession, have made it an attractive prospect for wealth creation opportunities.

• Forests cover between 25 and 30 percent of the earth’s land surface. They help to maintain the fertility of the soil, protect watersheds, and reduce the risk of natural disasters such as floods and landslides.
• About 350 million people worldwide depend on forest resources for their livelihood—of those, 50 million (especially indigenous communities) are wholly dependent on forests.
• About 65% of the total primary energy supply in Africa comes from biomass (30% in South Asia, 15% in Latin America and East Asia).

The issue in today’s post concerns why the transaction price of timberland has shown little or no decline in value but the stock price of the publicly traded companies that own timberland has declined dramatically. I will also look at what I think is happening in the timberland market today and how I see the market for timberland investment. But first, let’s set the stage.