ABSTRACT
FAO country estimates for the areas of plantation eucalypts in 1990 show that Brazil had the second largest area after India, 3.6 million ha (Pandey 1995). The most recent estimate, also from FAO sources, puts the figure at 3.1 million ha (Appendix 2). Although this massive resource is designed to meet the raw material needs of Brazil’s forest-based industries such as timber, pulp and charcoal, it has, nevertheless, indirectly influenced the development of the eucalyptus oil industry in the country, at least in the early days. Apart from China, Brazil has been the only other significant producer and exporter of Eucalyptus citriodora oil and this arose from the widespread availability of ‘waste’ leaf from E. citriodora planted primarily for charcoal production. Charcoal is used for fuelling the furnaces in the iron and steel industries and in the manufacture of cement and E. citriodora has played an important role in the Brazilian economy (Galanti 1987). In addition to E. citriodora oil, oils from E. globulus and E. staigeriana are produced in Brazil.
