Influence of post-harvest natural drying of Eucalyptus on transportation costs in Paraguay

Abstract

The variation in the weight of a load of pulpwood from the day of cutting has an impact on the transportation cost when it is carried out by tons. The objective of this study was to evaluate the transportation cost's variation in relation to the weight loss of Eucalyptus grandis × Eucalyptus camaldulensis wood obtained from a 3-year-old plantation located in the district of Itacurubi, Cordillera, Paraguay. Samples of 1-meter-long logs were collected at three different heights from each tree after an inventory and subsequent measurement. The weight of each sample was evaluated over a period of 225 days until it reached a constant weight in the field. To calculate the transportation cost, a price based on 90 days of seasoning ignoring moisture content was considered, and a transportation cost of 0.11 USD/Tn.km was used, along with a loading cost of 1.1 USD/Tn. The cost was evaluated at 0, 30, 52, 116, and 225 days after cutting in two scenarios where the variable describes the distance between the industry and the loading site: a) 100 km, and b) 200 km. For scenario a), the cost was observed to be 41 USD/Tn at 0 days from cutting, 24 USD/Tn at 30 days, 20 USD/Tn at 52 days, 18 USD/Tn at 116 days, and 17.5 USD/Tn at 225 days from cutting. As for scenario b), the values obtained were 81 USD/Tn, 47 USD/Tn, 38 USD/Tn, 35 USD/Tn, and 34 USD/Tn, respectively. It is evident that the weight loss significantly influences the freight cost of every ton of the load when it is carried out under the mentioned conditions.