EVOLUTION OF PRICES AND UNITARY COSTS OF THE PLYWOOD PRODUCTION IN PARANÁ STATE, BRAZIL

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzed the evolution of the components costs of the plywood production and the prices paid to the industry and also identified the influence of macroeconomic variables in this evolution. The survey was conducted based on costs and prices between 2005 and 2012. The Price Indexes were calculated with the average of the annual real data deflated for December 2012 and, to assess the relation between the data and the macroeconomic variables, Pearson's correlation coefficient was used. The results indicated an increase of 0.08% in real costs of the ureic glue and a reduction of 2.7%, 4.7% 9.9% and 11.7% of the input costs: electricity, phenolic glue, sawn wood and diesel, respectively. Nevertheless, this decrease in the inputs costs was much lower than the 26% decrease in the price received by the plywood industry in the analyzed period. The veneer wood, however, followed the reduction in prices and had a fall of 25%; in contrast, the workforce had an increase of 63%. There was a sharper drop in the price of the final product than the unit costs of inputs. The analysis allows a compression of the contribution margin and a large influence of macroeconomic variables in the sale price and in the components of the production cost of manufacturing plywood.

Keywords:
forest economics; price indexes; contribution margin