Between the 7th and 11th of August, the forestry world gathered in the region of Ribeirão Preto. The highlight was the 5th edition of Expoforest, the Brazilian Forest Fair.

Once again, the forestry world was gathered in Brazil. After five years, the Brazilian Forestry Week was held again. More than 35 thousand professionals, from different parts of the planet, were in the Ribeirão Preto region for a week full of technical content, which culminated with the 5th edition of Expoforest, the Brazilian Forest Fair.

The Brazilian Forestry Week began with two traditional events held at Ribeirão Shopping: the 5th Brazilian Forestry Meeting and the 19th Seminar on Wood Harvesting and Transport. Together, they brought together more than a thousand people from Brazil and abroad, for two days. In all, 66 professionals took part in the technical program, which included 06 panels and 07 round tables. Specialists in all segments that deal with the productive chain of planted forests and the logistics that involve delivering wood as raw material to industries, discussed the past, present and future of the sector.

Aimee Koerich is a specialist engineer for market intelligence, forestry planning and forestry at Dexco. According to her, there is a gap regarding the availability of professionals in specific areas. “The discussions brought up very important topics for our sector. Our great difficulty is the skilled labor in forestry. It is important that technologies transform our data into information, so that we can make decisions more quickly”, she said.

Jorge Malinovski, director of Malinovski and one of the creators of the Brazilian Forestry Week, was the general coordinator of the technical events. He recalled that the exchange of knowledge between professionals is essential for any business: “We discuss trends and review strategies, as not everything is predictable. We need to be prepared as best we can. And for that, the exchange of knowledge is fundamental.”

“I want to thank the speakers, who contributed with information and experiences; to the sponsors, who helped us to make the events possible; and to the public, who participated and raised the level of the Brazilian Forestry Week. We hope it has been fruitful, not only technically, but also with the maintenance and new relationships”, concluded Dr. Jorge Malinovski.

5th Expoforest took the public to the extreme environment of planted forests

The largest dynamic forest fair in the world, which began on Wednesday (09) and ended on Friday (11), in Guatapará, brought together 35,933 visitors in an area of ​​200 hectares planted with eucalyptus belonging to Sylvamo, Expoforest’s master supporter.

The fair was divided into static and dynamic areas. Right at the entrance, with about a kilometer in length, the static part was located, with exhibitors from different segments demonstrating products and services for activities related to the planting and harvesting of trees and several other activities directly and indirectly linked to the silvicultural environment and production of wood for raw material.

Next was the dynamic area, on a trail over three kilometers long. There, the visitor was able to see in practice, in a real environment, forestry activities, harvesting, biomass production and much more. The spaces included experiments on molecules for weed competition, soil nutrition, silvopastoral system, genetic improvement, geotechnologies, drones and vans, machinery for harvesting trees, equipment for biomass production, road implements, and several other activities.

To optimize visitation to the fair, due to the size of the event, CMPC’s forestry director, José Luiz Bazzo, divided its schedule into two days. “I used the strategy of making a general tour of the fair on the first day and for the second I already had some appointments. So I used it for business activities,” he explained.

The general director of Expoforest, Ricardo Malinovsky says that the supporters’ help was fundamental. “It was only possible to hold this fair in Brazil thanks to our partner Sylvamo. We have been working in this space for the last two years and without this support we would not have made it. I would also like to thank Embrapa Florestas and the city of Guatapará for all their support. Embrapa Florestas was especially important in the promotion and co-organization of the 5th Brazilian Silviculture Meeting, in addition to bringing to the fair several novelties and the ILPF space. We need, more and more, unity to enhance and integrate our sector. We are strong, but we can be even stronger”, commented the general director of Expoforest, Ricardo Malinovski.

This edition of Expoforest brought together 235 exhibitors and received visitors from all states of the federation and also from 42 other countries. Eko Leksono came from Indonesia to participate in the Brazilian Forestry Week and Expoforest 2023. “We have large areas of forest in Indonesia and this is the biggest exhibition in the world. So, essentially, we want to study and learn which is the best experience from each manufacturer. We want to hear from the best personalities in the industry,” he said.

For Tatiana Kalman, president of Sylvamo in Brazil, it was an honor to host another edition of Expoforest and welcome the forestry world to an area of ​​the company. “It makes us proud. We have been doing this since the third edition of the fair and intend to continue doing so for many, many years”, he said.

Among several actions and parallel events of Expoforest 360 degrees, one drew attention for uniting human and machine in a competition. It was the second edition of the Forwarder Operators Championship, which had Luciano Tibes Grein as the big winner. Several tasks measured each operator’s ability and speed to perform tasks with the forwarder. “It was a dream for me, since I was a child, to just step inside this fair. Now, with a lot of faith and determination, I won my prize”, celebrated the R&S Florestal forwarder operator.

Augusto Kahler Garate is a businessman in the forestry equipment sector in Chile and says that many professionals came from that country to visit Expoforest. “I met people from different regions of Chile and friends from other countries. People I’ve known from the industry for a long time. Germans, Americans, Austrians, Colombians”, he said. Augusto, who came as a visitor in this edition, already has plans for the next Expoforest. “We work with aerial cable harvesting towers and saw a great opportunity for business here in Brazil, here at Expoforest”.

Expoforest 2023 provided an excellent business environment. With more than 230 exhibitors, visitors could see machines and equipment working in a real situation and compare the different performances. The organization of the event projected a volume of approximately BRL 1 billion between closed and prospected deals in this 2023 edition.