Ecoforests News
August 21, 2014

With pleasure we present to you our summer 2014 Newsletter, find enclosed the latest information regarding the forestry industry and Ecoforests.

Teak prices rise in the USA

Teak Prices rise in the US : This year the Myanmar Government is allowing only about 20% of the volume of teak to be exported as was exported last year, according to the Woodworking Network.

Prices in the US for short and narrow sawn teak strips, generally used for flooring and outdoor furniture have risen approximately 10%. Prices for intermediate size boards ranging from 6 to 10 inch width and 6 to 10 feet length have risen by 15-20%.

The steepest price rise has been seen in prime quality and long lengths which yacht builders revere. Lengths ten feet and longer and quarter sawn decking prices have jumped 20-30% and are expected to go even higher as the stock of available raw material continues to dwindle.

University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna publishes a thesis report about Teak plantations.

Abstract : Teak ( Tectona Grandis L.f.) is known for its superior natural durability. Plantations are gaining importance as they can provide fast growing teak in a sustainable way. Teak wood from Costa Rica was studied. The trees are fast growing and harvested while still comparably young. Therefore the trunks consist entirely of juvenile wood. The proportion of sapwood in th raw material is high. The present study aims to determine if plantation teak can fulfil the high expectations in natural durability.

The resutls of the laboratory testing have resulted very satisfactory:

-Class 1, very durable according to standard EN- 350-2

Natural durability of plantation teak wood from Costa Rica was tested according to standard EN 350-1 by means of a laboratory test - Adoption of EN 113.

The teak samples were also exposed to brown- and white rot fungi. Only Trametes versicolor caused serious mass loss within the 16 week period of the test.

In addition the variation of durability across the trunk was also investigted. A slight decrease in durability towards the pith was recorded. However, no significant difference in durability was found between butt - and top long samples.

Additional microscope studies were carried out on fresh sap and heartwood as well as on samples subjected to fungal decay. The study concluded that the heartwood of plantation teak timber from Costa Rica fulfils expectations regarding natural durability.

Ecoforests BETA site unvealed.

www.ecoforests.com

Over the years Ecoforests has mantained a number of sites from .eu, to .net and .ca That was until we finally had the opportunity to acquire ecoforests.com which had been in negotiation since the initial inception of Ecoforests. We are now pleased to announce that our main site will be the global domain mentioned above. We have released a BETA site because we are still working on the second section of the site, which will allow private client section to review growth reports, GIS mapping of the plantations, third party reports studies and much more. At the moment we are presenting the BETA form which has a more clean and direct approach to our business. Please take a look and help us spread the word.

We will keep running all our other sites until we launch our final release at which point the rest of the domains will follow to our main site.

Teak Price Evolution

Following our continued monitoring of the price evolution of teak, based on the posted price increase and decrease from ITTO ( International Timber Trade Organization ) we are here presenting the valuations of teak price increase since April 2006 to May 2014. The next pricing report will be published by ITTO in September 2014.

What is new with Ecoforests

This year has been filled with new exciting opportunities and developments, here are some recent events:

1) We were present at the European Family Office conference in Geneva, Switzerland this past month of June.

2)We are in the midsts of launching our Tree Partner programs for investors in Hong Kong and mainland China this fall, we have now translated all our marketing information into traditional Chinese language and are awaiting our market entry launch shortly.

3) We continue to expand our plantation portfolio with projects, across South and Central America. To accomodate certain investors we have expanded our management to new Central American regions, including Honduras, Nicaragua and Ecuador.

4) Our growth report outlines a medium to high growth rate in all our plantations with the best growth rates expressed in the Nicoya plantations. If you would like to learn the specific dimensions of the project your are invested in, write to us at [email protected]

5)We have finalized the expansion of our sawmill operations in order to further process some of our teak harvests. All operations are running as scheduled.

6) Here some of our latest pictures from plantations.