Latin American trees offer investment opportunity Commentary: Latin American timber should be on investors’ lists

Latin American trees offer investment opportunity Commentary: Latin American timber should be on investors’ lists

"First of all, forestry in Latin America means an entirely different thing than it does in the United States. In the U.S., many forestry companies are traded as real-estate investment trusts, or REITs, where their earnings are driven by activities such as paper and pulp production, lumber and the holdings of their timberlands.

Kimberly-Clark de Mexico

Kimberly-Clark de Mexico, which employs some 8,000 people, has been recognized for earnings stability during the global financial crisis.

In Latin America, companies tend to be defined by what they produce, not by their land holdings. For example, the region’s two largest forestry companies are Chile’s Arauco, which is divided into five divisions, including lumber, pulp and paper; and Brazil’s Fibria Celulose SA FBR -3.60% , a producer of eucalyptus pulp."