Traditional gum (latex), resin and insecticide products

The harvesting of tree exudates and natural insecticides has long provided a source of income for "extractivists" in the Amazonian rainforest and these products are regularly suggested as candidates for developmental investment, either in "extractivist reserves" or for formal cultivation in agroforestry systems on the forest verge. However, the successful further development of these products, like any other commodity, is dependent upon markets.

For the majority of Amazonian gums, resins and insecticides there is a paucity of information on markets. Even for those products which were, in the past, traded internationally (and for which there are, potentially, the most reliable data) complications arise in assessing future prospects from:

1. The inaccessibility or unavailability of information on whether the supply of these products was sustainable and adequate to world demand;
2. The absence of information on the rationale (cost, consistency of quality, guaranteed supply, etc.) which has led consumers to switch from the natural product to synthetic alternatives;
3. The untested potential for agroforestry systems to supply a larger volume of cheaper and more consistent raw material; and
4. The changes currently occurring in the market place with selective shifts to "greener" products.

The general lack of information on these factors poses a particular problem for decision makers in national bodies in the Amazon region and for donor agencies when judging the merits of project proposals which concern individual NWFPs. Most proposals tend to emphasise perceived production or processing opportunities but fail to provide reliable assessments of the market.

The aim of the NRI study was to improve the database and to make a preliminary assessment of the future developmental potential for Amazonian arboreal exudates (excluding rubber) and natural insecticides. It involved an assessment of current and projected market demand, the gathering of information on production in Brazil (a major source) and, where possible, in neighbouring countries.

It proved possible to acquire significant information during the course of the study on seven gums and resins and on Derris, the natural insecticide. The findings for these commodities are individually described below.

It was not possible to establish the scale of production or demand, if any, for a number of other gums and natural insecticides listed in some recent proposals submitted to ODA.

Copaiba oil

Common names for products

The crude tree exudate in producing countries: copaiba oil, copahyba, copaiva.
By some international buyers: copaiba balsam. The processed essential oil: copaiba oil by international buyers.

Description and uses

Crude copaiba "oil" is an oleoresin exudate which is obtained by manual tapping of the trunks of various Copaifera species (family Leguminosae).

C. officinalis Jacq. the traditional main source of copaiba in Colombia, Venezuela and the Guianas. C. reticulata Ducke, C. guianensis Desf. and C. multijuga Hayne are the principal Brazilian Amazon sources of copaiba. C. reticulata has been stated in the past as accounting for 70% of Brazilian copaiba production but it is not possible to verify if this is still the case. C. langsdorffii Desf. is a cerrado source of oil but is not believed to be traded in any significant amounts.

Primary trading and a proportion of exports is conducted in the crude product; overseas buyers frequently call this material "copaiba balsam".

Further processing, by distillation, provides an essential oil, known by overseas buyers and users as "copaiba oil". It is employed by the international fragrance industry as a fixative in perfumes and in other products such as soaps.

In Brazil, the crude oil is also employed in pharmaceutical and some other traditional applications.

Demand trends

The international market for copaiba (crude oil or "balsam" and processed oil) is estimated as less than 200 t per annum, and probably nearer 100 t per annum. The major importers are the USA, France and Germany, accounting for approximately 50%, 30% and 15%, respectively. The major use is in the perfume industry.

Usage by the international fragrance market largely depends on prices of substitute materials. Copaiba oil is already considered relatively inexpensive by the perfume industry, suggesting that there is little scope for increased use. Falling or stagnant price trends suggest that the world market is probably oversupplied.

Published wholesale purchase prices for copaiba in New York have been very stable in recent years and have been US$ 5.10/kg for ''balsam'' since 1988. The list price for the distilled oil in early 1989 was US$ 8.25. Traders in Brazil quoted prices of around US$ 7.50/kg f.o.b. Belem, and less in Manaus. Export data indicate an average f.o.b. value of about US$ 3.90/kg in 1992, and prices of US$ 7-8 in 1990 and 1991.

Several organizations in Brazil have expressed the view that copaiba oil has a potential for sales to the international pharmaceutical market as an anti-inflamatory product, an application with an established market in Brazil. No confirmation of interest by the international pharmaceutical market could be established in the study.

The Brazilian market is larger than the international market and is, perhaps, of the order of 300-500 t per annum. Usage is divided between the fragrance industry (effectively multinational companies based in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro) and the pharmaceutical industry. Copaiba traders in Manaus, Belém and Santarém differed in their view on which sector constitutes the major market.

As a pharmaceutical, copaiba oil in Brazil has found traditional use as an antiseptic and anti-inflammatory. The traditional market is most evident in Amazonia, where it was observed during the visit that all pharmacies sold small bottles of neat copaiba oil over the counter; a more crudely packaged product is usually available in markets. Outside Amazonia, copaiba oil is fairly readily available in pharmacies, and capsules are also available. Both products are labelled as complying with Brazilian Pharmacopoeia standards. The oil is also added to shampoos, soaps and cosmetics, which are promoted for their value in treating skin complaints and numerous other disorders.

The Brazilian pharmaceutical market for copaiba oil is likely to remain static overall, with balancing effects of demand increase related to population growth, perhaps some decline in the use of traditional remedies, but increasing acceptance in the "mainstream" pharmacies. Its use in the domestic fragrance industry is not likely to change greatly, though any sudden close-down in manufacturing operations amongst the main users (as happened with one recently) will have some impact.

Several traders in Brazil were aware that copaiba oil could be used as a substitute for diesel fuel and this has attracted some attention from researchers in the past. In the late 1970s/early 1980s there was speculation that Copaifera might be grown on a plantation scale as an energy source. However, it was conceded at the time that the economics of such a venture would probably not be favourable and there is no evidence that the situation has changed.

It was not possible to acquire any significant information on demand for copaiba in other regional markets. Similar usage, if on a much smaller scale than Brazil, might be expected.

Supply trends

Brazil has been historically, and remains today, the major producer and exporter of copaiba products. Smaller quantities have been available to the market from Venezuela, the Guianas and Colombia. In all these countries, primary production has been dependent upon the tapping of wild forest trees (i.e. "extractivism").

Brazilian exports of copaiba products since 1978 have fluctuated around 70 t per annum with no discernable trend (see Table 1). Export volumes for individual years have ranged between 42 t in 1980 and 114 t in 1987.

Data on Brazilian production for the period 1978-89 have been published by IBGE (see Table 2). These figures record output as ranging from 20 to 120 t per annum, averaging 57 t, and showing no discernable trend. Information gained from traders on production and on the domestic and international markets indicates that the IBGE figures greatly underestimate the true level of production, which may amount to 300 t or more per annum.

Some 90% of Brazilian copaiba production arises from the State of Amazonas. The balance largely originates from the State of Pará (see Table 2). Pará formerly accounted for a significantly greater proportion of the total output and its decline is attributed by traders in Belém to the substantially increased costs of production.

Annual fluctuations in Brazilian production are attributed by traders to the relative ease of access to collection areas. Transportation of both collectors and the oil is by means of boats and the upstream sites cannot be visited in years when river levels are low.

Table 1: Brazilian exports of selected NTFPs, 1981-92

Source: Based on Banco do Brasil trade data unless otherwise indicated.

Notes:

1. Exports from Manaus only, but this is believed to be the only source of sorva.
2. Estimate based on interviews with traders.
3. 1981, 1989 figures are exports from Manaus only (but Manaus usually accounts for ca 90% of total copaiba exports). na = not available
- = nil

Brazilian production of copaiba oil has adequately met both the domestic and export market needs in most recent years. However, diverse views were expressed during the field study over future trends. Some traders believe that the natural resource is capable of servicing a modest growth in demand while others hold the view that the number of trees is declining in accessible forest areas.

It proved impossible during the study to secure any reliable data on the levels and trends in production and export of copaiba products in Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam and Colombia. Field studies are the only means of obtaining such information.

Sorva

Common names: sorva, sorveira, sorvinha, sorva grande, cumã-açu, leche-caspi [C. macrocarpa].

Description and uses

Sorva is collected as a milky white latex from the trunks of certain Amazonian Couma species (family Apocynaceae). C. macrocarpa Barb. Rodr., is the most widely distributed species (Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia and the Brazilian Amazon, particularly Amazonas) and is the main source of sorva. The smaller C. utilis (Mart.) Muell. Arg. (Amazonas and the upper Orinoco basin, Venezuela) and C. guianensis Aubl. (eastern Amazonia and the Guianas) are other species that yield a sorva-type latex.

Sorva is traded in the form of large balls or blocks, produced by the tapper from the latex by a process of boiling and coagulation. Further processing may take place either before or after export, although final processing is undertaken by the ultimate consumer industries.

Processed sorva has traditionally been used as a natural base for chewing gum. It competes in this application with other natural masticatory gums (such as chicle) and with synthetic gums.

Demand trends

Sorva has now largely been replaced by synthetic gums in chewing gum manufacture and this has led to a dramatic decline in demand.

The United States used to be the major importer of sorva but the main international market now is the Far East, with some limited interest in Europe.

Brazil is currently the only supplier of sorva to the market and the decline in the international market demand is indicated by the downturn in Brazil's exports from 3 500 t in 1978 to 500 t in 1992 (see Table 1). Brazil has a large chewing gum industry but this, too, appears to be based principally on synthetic gums and there is, therefore, effectively no Brazilian market for sorva.

Supply trends

Production of sorva in Brazil, the sole world exporter, is dependent on harvesting wild trees.

IBGE data (Table 2) show a five-fold reduction in Brazilian sorva production over a 12-year period, from something of the order of 5 500 t in 1978 to just over 1 000 t in 1989. Peak production occurred in 1976 (just over 6 000 t), having risen steadily from about 1 500 t in 1960.

Amazonas has been the centre of production, accounting for 90 per cent or more of the total throughout the period 1978-89. Roraima has been the only other source of sorva of any significance and in recent years has accounted for all of the balance. Production in Rondônia declined to very small levels by the late 1970s.

In 1978, the sorva exports of 3 500 t were valued at some US$ 10 million and for Amazonas State it was the most important export product and marginally more valuable than Brazil nuts. The most recent value of sorva exports from Brazil is probably of the order of US$ 2 million (based on historic price trends and trade estimates of export volumes).

Supply of sorva is well-matched to effective demand, given that it is usually a product for which collection is "commissioned" by traders responding to requests from processors/exporters.

Balata

Common names: Balata, balata verdadeira.

Description and uses

Balata is obtained as a latex from trees of certain Manilkara species (family Sapotaceae).

Genuine balata comes from M. bidentata (DC) A. Chev. (syn. Mimusops bidentata DC, Mimusops balata Gaertn.) found mostly in northern Amazonia and the Guianas. The term balata is sometimes used in a wider sense to include other non-elastic gums such as maçaranduba and coquirana, but these are dealt with separately below since they are identified as such by traders and entered separately in IBGE statistics.

Table 2: Brazilian production of selected NTFPs, 1981-91 (t)

Source: Anuario Estatistico do Brasil, IBGE

Notes:
na - not available
- = nil
~ = < 0.5

Like sorva, balata latex is coagulated by boiling and turned into blocks, the form in which it is traded.

Balata is a "gutta-percha" type of gum and its non-elastic. insulating properties made it, in the past. a valuable export commodity, used for covering submarine cables and in the manufacture of machine belting. Its most well-known use was in providing the outer covering for golf balls. Today, its use in Brazil is limited to a number of small applications such as the manufacture of souvenir figures and surgical implants.

Demand trends

An international market for balata. no longer exists. During the 1960s, however the United States was the dominant importer. Brazil was the main supplier during this period, exporting around 500 t per annum, to a world market of approximately 800 t.

In the 1970s, synthetic subsitutes were developed which immediately displaced balata's role in world markets, and this remains the case today. Table I indicates that only small or nil amounts of balata have been exported from Brazil in recent years.

The Brazilian market remains a very small one. Balata is used in dentistry and surgery (implants of this substance are apparently less likely to be rejected by the human body) and in the Amazonian cottage crafts industry (for making children's model animals and other figures, mostly for sale to tourists). Both of these markets are considered to be extremely small.

Information available at the time of the study suggests that neither domestic nor international markets offer any prospect for substantially increased absorption of balata.

Supply trends

The extent of balata production today in countries other than Brazil is not known, but it is unlikely to be substantial given the collapse in world markets. Peru, like Brazil, was a significant producer in the 1950s.

IBGE production data (Table 2) indicate a decline in Brazilian production over the last 30 years, consistent with world market trends. These data suggest that production may have been in excess of 1 000 t per annum in the 1960s, falling to less than 100 t by the mid.-1980s. IBGE production data suggest that within Brazil, Pará state is the dominant source of this minor commodity.

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