Shift in Lifestyles of China's New Generation Turns Brazilian Paper Materials into a Hot Commodity

In recent years, the growth of China's per capita GDP and changes in the living habits of the new generation have driven Brazil's exports of pulp to China. In the first 10 months of this year, Brazil exported 5.7 million tonnes of cellulose to China, compared with only 1.8 million tonnes in the same period of 2012.

China's demand for hygiene care products is increasing

According to a report by the Brazilian website "UOL" on November 17, one of the reasons for the increase in Chinese people's pulp consumption is changes in hygiene habits, such as the widespread use of diapers, sanitary napkins, and two-ply or multi-ply toilet paper. "China's new generation has higher requirements for personal care products and consumes a large number of Westernized products," said 63-year-old Chinese Paulo Chen. He was born in Pingtung in southern Taiwan and has lived in Recife for 50 years.

World Bank data show that China's per capita GDP has grown exponentially since 2000, jumping from 959 US dollars in 2000 to 10,500 US dollars in 2020. "This growth has driven multiple demands from China for Brazilian products, mainly from agriculture and mining," said Daniel Sasson, an agricultural trade analyst at Itaú BBA.

According to data from Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (Mapa), in 2021, 36.33% of Brazil's agricultural exports were destined for China. Forestry products (cellulose, paper and rubber) are Brazil's third largest agricultural export, after soybeans and meat, and China is also the largest buyer. For cellulose alone, in October this year, 40.8% of Brazil's exports went to China. China uses this cellulose to manufacture various hygiene products, from sanitary napkins to wet wipes, disposable diapers and more.

Sustainability is the future development trend

Daniel Sasson believes that in the coming years, demand for Brazilian cellulose will continue to grow, for use in making toilet paper and other products, such as packaging paper that replaces plastic, because the world is seeking sustainable products. On the other hand, he predicts that demand for printing paper will decline, because with the COVID-19 pandemic, many people stopped printing, and digitalization has accelerated the use of electronic documents.

According to data from the Brazilian Tree Industry Association (Iba), Brazil has a total of 9 million hectares of planted forest area, plus another 5.9 million hectares used for permanent preservation areas, legal reserve areas and private natural heritage reserves. Data from Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture show that the production speed of Brazilian forest products is also accelerating. In 2012, forest product output was 14.2 million tonnes, rising to 27 million tonnes in 2020, an increase of 190%. Between 2012 and 2020, Brazil produced 211 million tonnes of forest products, of which 24.8% (52.3 million tonnes) were bought by China.

Wilson Andrade, executive chairman of the Bahia Association of Forest Product Enterprises (Abaf), observed that not only the Chinese market, but also the European and American markets have continuously growing demand for forest products, due to the reduction of petroleum products such as plastics. "The forestry sector produces more than 5,000 different products. The pandemic accelerated the use of some products, such as paper packaging used in food delivery services," he said.

In addition, Andrade also emphasized the sustainability orientation of the forest product production chain. According to the Brazilian Tree Industry Association, the sector voluntarily adopts certification schemes to ensure the traceability and responsible origin of its products, and holds multiple international certifications, including Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certification and others.

——This article is reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-378723.html