About ASF

Management Approach

ASF Brazil’s success is predicated upon a multi-pronged strategy of acquiring land at depressed prices; transforming that land through sustainable harvesting and reforestation; integrating these forestry activities with processing plants; and, grouping these forestry activities into clusters around a sawmill (thus optimizing operations). 

WhatWeDo2

Our objective is to build 10 clusters with 2 million hectares of land preserved and revitalized; to provide 30,000 jobs to indigenous communities and the infrastructure (health, education, housing) to support them – upwards of 150,000 people; and, sequester CO2 and restore the once undisturbed biodiversity.

Our Properties

ASF currently operates two sawmills, a hardwood mill (Agouti, Xapuri) producing flooring, decking, doors and a softwood mill (Triunfo, Rio Branco) producing plywood. ASF is in negotiations to acquire two additional sawmills and build a new sawmill to expand capacity. Our finishing plant (Xapuri) allows us to produce a high value added finished product, different from most other mills in the Amazon region that simply produce raw planks. This means we are able to sell our products at a significant premium to those sold by our competitors, which translates to more jobs and higher wages. We also already own 40,000 hectares (approx.. 100,000 acres) of forest. Thus, by controlling the entire value chain – from forest to finished product – we are able to capture more value than most of our competitors.

Please select one of the location names on the map below to learn more: Agouti Sawmill in Xapuri, Acre; Triunfo Sawmill in Rio Branco, Acre; Porto Brasil Farm in Feijo, Acre.

Logistics

ASF Brazil enjoys a competitive advantage in logistics by completing production on site and using barges and ports in the Northern Arc, thereby reducing transportation costs. All production clusters focus on this route.

Most wood production in the state of Acre travels by truck more than 3,500 km to Curitiba where it is finished into decking, flooring, doors. It is then shipped out to international destinations from the Paranaguá Port.

ASF Brazil finishes its production on site and then ships it out from Manaus Port to international destinations, reducing transportation costs by over 30%.

In the case of exports to Asia, our products are transported by truck to the port of Callao outside Peru’s capital city, Lima.

History

In 2016 ASF acquired an abandoned sawmill located in Xapuri, Acre, about 200 km from the state capital, Rio Branco. The mill had not been operational for four years. The previous owners, in partnership with the state government,  had gone bankrupt. ASF bought it from the state and spent a year renovating it, investing in new equipment and repairing the physical plant. It has since been renamed “Agouti-Xapuri”.

In late 2018, ASF negotiated the purchase of a second mill, Triunfo, located in the state capital, Rio Branco. In 2018 ASF also acquired more than 20,000 hectares of forestland in the northern part of the state. (Today, ASF owns more than 40,000 hectares of forestland.) 

We have purchased and continue to purchase teak plantations, and we are actively reforesting degraded land on our existing properties.

ASF employs more than 500 people, making it one of the largest private employers in the state.

Agouti 2016 (before renovation)
Triunfo 2018